Flowers from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Plant Name |
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo' (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diablo') Physocarpus comes from the Greek words physo (bladder) and karpon (fruit) in reference to the red bladder-shaped fruits that appear after flowering. Diabolo is Devil in Spanish. |
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Common Name |
Purple-leaf Ninebark. Plants in this genus exhibit exfoliating bark on mature branches. The bark peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark, hence the common name. This interesting bark provides good winter interest but is usually hidden by the foliage during the growing season. |
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Soil |
Loam, Sand, Clay |
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Sun Aspect |
Full Sun (Best foliage colour occurs in Full Sun), Part Shade |
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Soil Moisture |
Dry to Moist and Well-drained |
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Plant Type |
Deciduous Shrub |
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Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
96 x 96 (240 x 240) |
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Foliage |
Dark Purple - Purple foliage tends to green up in hot summer climates as the summer progresses. |
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Flower Shape, Natural Arrangement, Number of Petals and Flower Colour in Month(s). Seed |
Pinkish-White, 5 Petal flowers in June-August. Flowers give way to drooping clusters of reddish fruit (inflated seed capsules) - see images below. |
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Comment |
"Beyond its physical attractions, ‘Diabolo’ is also incredibly cold-hardy (to Zone 2-3), is not fussy about soil type or pH, is easily pruned to preferred height and shape, and, once established, is comfortable withstanding prolonged dry periods." fromPlant of the Month in Gardening in the Mud for Midwest and Northeast Gardeners - "I have a Master of Science degree in Plant Pathology; I was a Master Gardener for thirteen years; and I’ve worked as a horticultural consultant."
"Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun in the northern part or its growing range, but appreciates some afternoon shade in the St. Louis area. Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions. Prune as needed immediately after bloom. Plants may be cut to the ground in winter to rejuvenate. 'Diabolo' is a purple-leaved ninebark cultivar. Like the species, it is an upright, spreading, somewhat coarse, deciduous shrub which is closely related to genus Spiraea. It typically grows 4-8' (less frequently to 10') tall. Small pinkish-white, five-petaled flowers in dense, flat, rounded, 1-2" diameter, spirea-like clusters (corymbs) appear in late spring. Flowers give way to drooping clusters of reddish fruit (inflated seed capsules). Ovate to rounded, usually 3-5 lobed leaves (to 4" long) are dark purple. Purple foliage tends to green up in hot summer climates as the summer progresses - see images below. The species is native to Missouri. Ninebark is named for its exfoliating bark (on mature branches) which peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark- see image below. Bark provides winter interest but is usually hidden by the foliage during the growing season. Shrub borders, hedge, screen or for erosion control on banks. A vigorous shrub that seems to be able to grow well in harsh conditions." from Missouri Botanical Garden .
"This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds." from Gardening Express.
"But if you need a smaller specimen, cutting ‘Diablo’ to the ground in early spring will result in a flush of even darker foliage and, of course, a more compact shrub." from Fine Gardening.
"The bark of Ninebark is peeling & cracked, quite interesting at close observation. In fact this shrub gets its name from a belief that it has nine layers of bark. Even so, on younger specimens during their first two or three years at least, the overall effect in winter can at times prove to be mediocre & too twiggy, plus it re-leafs relatively late in spring, so that the thin twigginess will not be restored to its fluffy dense foliage for quite a long season. For this reason some people cut theirs nearly to the ground for the winter, resulting in a compact & bright bush with rapid spring growth, fully fluffed out earlier than if the previous year's limbs were left intact. But with patience & far less rigorous pruning, it's great to let specimens grow "wild" in order to obtain an impressive height. As the shrub & older stems mature, the exfoliating limbs will eventually gain in character, to become one of the most interesting species for ornamentality in winter. Because only the previous years' limbs exfoliate, with too regular a pruning schedule, the bark never will get interesting. So I prefer to let it go unpruned or minimally pruned, which results in no lessoning of spring flowering. Eventually it may seem time to provide the shrub with a freshening hard prune, but I don't feel this should be done even so often as every third year. Ours two shrubs in their fourth year of minimal pruning have remained in top form, & the winter look improves greatly when there are a larger percentage of thickening, aged-looking upright twigs, as can be seen on the Diablo Ninebark page along the Winter Bark Garden Walk." from Paghat the Ratgirl.
Other cultivars for your consideration of Physocarpus opulifolius are detailed in The Many Faces of Ninebark from Proven Winners. Species and cultivars from Horticulture Week:-
Available from Stephen’s garden and nursery hold three national collections for the Garden Conservation Association of Australia. They are Cornus, Sambucus and Acanthus.". |
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Companions |
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Flowers from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Foliage from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Purple foliage tends to green up in hot summer climates as the summer progresses. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Bark from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Plants in this genus exhibit exfoliating bark on mature branches. The bark peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark, hence the common name. This interesting bark provides good winter interest but is usually hidden by the foliage during the growing season. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 5 March 2013. |
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Early Spring Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Note the height of the Black plant Label with its position well in front of these shrubs. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 4 March 2013. |
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Spring Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Shrubs with juvenile Spring Foliage. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 27 April 2013. |
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Spring Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Shrubs with Spring Foliage. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 15 May 2013. |
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Spring Foliage from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Purple foliage tends to green up in hot summer climates as the summer progresses. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 15 May 2013. |
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Summer Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Summer Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Although visibility of these 2 shrubs is reduced to 1/3, at least the black label is not missing, but you might find it difficult to see the fruits as shown below; with the naked eye. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 24 July 2013. |
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Summer Foliage with red fruits from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Purple foliage tends to green up in hot summer climates as the summer progresses. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 24 July 2013. |
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Fruits from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 24 July 2013. |
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Fruits from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 24 July 2013. |
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Flower Buds from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Plant Label from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 17 June 2013. |
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Number of Flower Petals |
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Flower Shape - Simple |
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Flower Shape - Simple |
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Flower Shape - Elabor-ated |
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Flower Shape - Elabor-ated |
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Natural Arrange-ments |
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MIXED BORDER DESIGN GALLERY PAGES
FLOWER COLOUR RANGE IN 71 PARTS OF MIXED BORDER DURING |
7 Flower Colours per Month in Colour Wheel below in the MIXED BORDERS DESIGN Gallery. Click on Black or White box in Colour of Month. |
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It is worth remembering that the links to external sites were valid on the day that I created that link, but may no longer be valid as Father Time moves on! |
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MIXED BORDER OTHER PLANTS GALLERY PAGES Site Map of pages with content (o) Introduction - |
Other Permanent Plants Height from Text Border for the |
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Blue = 0-24 inches |
Green = 24-72 inches |
Red = 72+ inches |
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Bedding Plants Soil Moisture from Text Background |
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Wet Soil |
Moist Soil |
Dry Soil |
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Click on thumbnail to add the Plant Description Page of the Bedding Plants named in the Text box below that photo. |
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MIXED BORDER OTHER PLANT INDEX |
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Other Plant Name with link to its Description Page |
Flower Colour with link to Design of East Border or |
Flowering Months with link to Mixed Borders Flower Colour per Month Pages |
Flower Thumbnail |
Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
Foliage Colour with link to Mixed Borders Foliage Colour Page |
Foliage Thumbnail |
Comment |
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Bamboo |
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Bulb |
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60 x 24 |
5 other Agapanthus in Herbaceous Perennial Gallery |
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24 x 8 |
74 other Allium in Allium and Anemone Gallery |
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Green, then Purple and ages Reddish-Purple |
24 x 3 |
Strap-like, Mid-Green |
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Red and green petals spotted with black |
Aug-Sep |
40 x 18 |
Light Green |
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Opening Orange fades to Pink |
August, September, October |
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35 x 23 |
Erect, narrow, sword-shaped and Dark Green |
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100 Crocosmia at Trecanna Nursery |
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36 x 18 |
Upright, pleated, wide, lance-shaped, mid Green leaves |
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should be named Ornithogalum candicans |
48 x 16 |
Strap-shaped and Mid-Green |
Other Southern African Orni-thogalum species that originate in southern Africa |
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Climber |
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Clematis See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
120 x 72 |
Grey-Green |
See 70 other Clematis climbers in Clematis Climber Gallery and further data on Clematis |
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Clematis |
120-180 x 36 |
Dark Green |
321 Clematis at Haw-thornes Nursery |
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60 x 20 |
Dark Green |
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Blue, Violet, Lilac, Lavender |
100 x 40 |
Lance-shaped Dark Green |
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Clematis 'Elvan' |
"All Clematis fall into one of 3 distinct pruning groups: No Prune (Group 1), Light Prune (Group 2), and Hard Prune (Group 3). Group 1: Early Flowering. Typically blooming in winter and spring, these varieties flower on the previous year's growth only, so if you need to remove damaged stems or control the size of the plant, the best time would be as soon as they have finished flowering. Included in this group are Alpina, Macropetala, Montana, and Evergreen varieties. Group 2: Large Flowers. Typically larger flowers grow out on new shoots from last year's growth in late spring and summer. Some of these will occasionally display a second bloom at the tips of the current year's growth in late summer and autumn. These varieties should be pruned in spring, right back to where there are strong and healthy buds, before they start their active growth period. New flowering stems will be produced from this architecture of previous growth. Group 3: Late Flowering. Group 3 Clematis only flower on current year's growth. These blooms tend to display from summer through to late autumn. These varieties are arguably the easiest to prune, as you basically cut it right down to about 20cm (8ins) above ground level in spring before they begin their active growth period, removing all of the previous year's growth." from Primrose who have produced a new method of raising "Kids in our planters". |
If this climber flowered after May 2013, then I could not identify it or see its Plant Label. See Clematis 'Elvan' Des-cription Page in Clematis Climbers Gallery |
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Clematis |
If this climber flowered after April 2013, then I could not identify it or see its Plant Label. See Clematis 'Etoile Violette' Des-cription Page in Clematis Climbers Gallery |
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Purple fades to Blue |
60 x 60 |
Dark Green |
Where is the American Clematis Society? |
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See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
168 x 36 |
Pale to Mid-Green |
Clem-atis.com focuses on Clematis varieties which are available and suitable for the North American garden including this variety |
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White with Pink tinge |
72 x 36 |
Dark Green |
British Clematis Society awarded 'Com-mended Certificate' to this Clematis |
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Clematis 'Kermesina' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 4 March 2013 |
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Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon' See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
96-120 x 36 |
Dark Green |
Sag-amihara Green Association for Clematis in Japan |
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Clematis 'Pink Ice' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
Fact Sheet on Clematis from Gardening in Australia |
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Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 13 April 2013 Chelone glabra black plant label on left and Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' black plant label on right |
Clematis Nomen-clatural Standards List from the Inter-national Clematis Society |
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Clematis Rosemoor 'Evipo002' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 13 April 2013 Hemerocallis lilio-asphodelus black plant label on right and Clematis Rosemoor 'Evipo002' black plant label in middle |
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180 x 60 |
Mid-Green |
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Clematis 'Ruutel' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 4 March 2013. Since its Birch Branch Support structure has not been replaced, It may be that this climber position was not going to be there in 2013 summer season. |
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Violet Blue ages to Purple |
120 x 60 |
Dark Green |
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Clematis x aromatica |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
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80 x 40 |
Pale Green |
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80 x 36 |
Grey-Green |
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Conifer |
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Dediduous Shrub |
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60 x 60 |
Grey-Green |
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Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013. |
The Trials Report of 2008-2010 on Buddleja davidii and its close hybrids of the RHS provides useful data including the require-ment for hard pruning. The Panel co-opted three genus special-ists, who are all national collection holders of Buddleja. They were; Peter Moore (Long-stock Gardens), Anita Allen (Shap-cott Barton Estate) and Andrew Bullock (The Lavender Garden). |
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Buddleja davidii 'Nanho White Monite' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013. |
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Buddleja davidii 'Peacock' |
Pink to Purple-Pink |
60 x 60 |
Medium Green |
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120 x 120 |
Large crisp Golden-Yellow leaves in spring. |
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Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' |
Small, Creamy-White, in flat heads. Unable to see its flowers in May-June or even later in the year. The 3 cornus at the back of the bed are starting to create their spring foliage on 15 May 2013 |
Spring pruning at Beech-grove Garden helps you to create what you want to see from a plant. |
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The 3 cornus at the back of the bed are now over 6 feet high on 29 August 2013. The plants in front obstruct the view of the cornus behind and thus no photos of the flowers of this cornus were taken in 2013. As a backdrop of variegated green/yellow it may be fine, but in that case why not replace that section of hedge behind it instead. |
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200 x 200 |
Dark Red-Purple oval leaves and, when the temperature drops, the leaves develop a bright-pink margin before becoming scarlet. |
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Scarlet Sepals and Purple Petals |
44 x 44 |
Slender deep Green |
Hardy Fuchsia List for the Showbench from the Fuchsia Societies in the UK |
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Scarlet Sepals and Purple Petals |
80 x 120 |
Bronze-tinted Dark Green Spring Foliage becomes Dark Green Foliage in the Summer |
There is the American Fuchsia Society , the Australian Fuchsia Society Inc the National Fuchsia Society of New Zealand and there was the Greater Victoria Geranium and Fuchsia Society in Canada |
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White with Red base |
96 x 60 |
Lobed Dark Green |
Inter-national Hibiscus Society list of registered and non-registered cultivars |
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52 x 60 |
Dark Green |
American Hyd-rangea Society with the story of the big Hydrangea that wouldn't bloom. |
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200 x 100 |
Toothed Mid to Dark Green |
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Burgundy, Pink and White |
100 x 80 |
Dark Green |
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Without the 50 x optical zoom on my current camera, I was unable to take photos of the flowers which were on this shrub on 15 May 2013. This shrub is too far back to enjoy its flowers with the naked eye. |
The Peony Society has further details on peonies. |
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White often tinged with Pink |
60 x 60 |
Golden Yellow |
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96 x 96 |
Dark Purple ages to Green |
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Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla 'Guincho Purple' |
Pink and White The Plant Label in the middle of this photo of January 2013 is unreadable. The Plant Label has been expanded below. |
The photo taken on the bottom right on 15 May 2013 shows that the Sambucus plant label is facing the front. The Yellowish-Green juvenile foliage on the bottom right belongs to Cornus alba 'Aurea' - you can see from its page that it grows quite high and hides the side view of this Sam-bucus Plant Label when that plant is in flower. Since the plant label is difficult to read from the front lawn, this indicates no identity of this plant took place when it was in flower. |
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Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla 'Gerda' |
When you look at the panorama photos in East Border Part 19 you will note - by 19 September 2013 - that purple flowers could be seen on the Sambucus but its plant label could not, because of the yellow foliage of the Cornus in front of it. |
This photo taken on 15 May 2013 shows the plant label for this burgundy-leaved Sam-bucus in the middle and facing the lawn between the 2 Mixed Borders. The orange juvenile foliage on the left is from Cornus alba 'Aurea'. |
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Deciduous Tree |
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Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea' |
Since no flowers were seen, then no photos of its flowers could be taken in Wisley. |
This photo from Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden on 15 June shows no flower bud formation for flowering in July. |
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This photo on 21 August 2013 from East Border Part 25 shows no indication of flowers during July or August. The panorama photos in that page do not indicate any evidence of flowers during 2013 |
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Paulownia tomentosa |
Photo from 4 March 2013 followed by photo of 1 July 2013 with no flowers seen before or afterwards. |
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Evergreen Perennial |
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20 x 40 |
Narrow, upright Dark Green |
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Grape-Purple with Golden-Yellow throat |
30 x 24 |
Narrow, strap-like, Dark Green Evergreen Perennial |
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Unable to get clear photos of flowers in 2013 |
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18 x 12 |
Jet black-maroon Evergreen Perennial |
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Pale Pink Unable to get clear photos of flowers in 2013 |
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26 x 20 |
Marbled, Plum-Purple |
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Evergreen Shrub |
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White flushed mauve-pink |
120 x 300 |
Dark Green |
Semi-Evergreen Shrub |
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Artemesia See further details in East Border Part 14 about lack of record keeping leading to this plant being overgrown - linkstakes in front of the Pennisetum would have provided a temporary solution from May 2013 onwards. |
Yellow Although these plants were in front of the bed next to the path and in front of Pennisetum orientale 'Shogun'; the Pennisetum overgrew them. |
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Ligustrum quihoui This image is part of the unreduced original photo taken on 24 July 2013. These plants were at the back of a 240 inch (600 cms) deep bed and the flowers were too small. |
Without the 50 x optical zoom on my current camera, I was unable to take close-up photos of the flowers which were on these shrubs on 24 July 2013. These shrubs are too far back to enjoy their flowers with the naked eye. |
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108 x 108 |
During the growing season all new flushes of growth are brilliant red, turning to bronze by late spring then to Dark Green |
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Evergreen Tree |
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Fern |
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Grass |
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September |
Very rarely flowers in Britain |
240 x 160 |
Grey-Green |
See other Grass-Base - The Online World Grass Flora from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. |
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Silvery-grey with Pinkish-Purple tints becomes Golden-Brown |
60 x 36 |
Grey-Green |
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120 x 60 |
Deep Green with razor sharp edges and midrib |
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60 x 48 |
Dark Green with razor sharp edges and midrib |
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60 x 40 |
Dark Green |
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52 x 48 |
Dark Green with White stripe down the leaf centre |
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Pink ripens to Silver. |
August, September, October, November, December |
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100 x 60 |
Dark Green |
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Rosy-Pink |
July, August, September, October |
Note that the Pink Spikelets were visible on the panorama of West Border Part 68 of 19 Sep-tember but its label was hidden by the plants in front |
100 x 40 |
Dark Green with White Midribs |
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Grey/ Silver and Pale Pink |
September, October, November |
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40 x 36 |
Dark Green with White midribs and edges |
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Pink turning to pure White Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
August, September |
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56 x 40 |
Dark green |
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Missed taking photos of its Pink Inflore-scences |
August, September |
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48 x 18 |
Horizontal Cream bands on Dark Green arching foliage |
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Pale Pink |
48 x 32 |
Flat, linear, Blue-Green leaves, turning Yellow-Brown in autumn |
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Pale Green ages to light buff |
30 x 18 |
Dark Green |
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Purple ripens to Gold |
100 x 48 |
Slender Grey-Green |
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Stipa gigantea Plant removed after 20 January 2013 |
Straw Yellow |
Photo taken on 20 January 2013 in West Border Part 63 |
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Hedge |
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Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) |
Green as background hedge to all 71 Parts of Mixed Borders |
May |
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480 x 320 |
Mid-Green with Brown Autumn and Winter dead foliage |
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Herb |
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Odds and Sods |
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Biennial - Onopordum acanthium |
In the late 19th century, it was introduced to temperate regions of North America, South America, and Australia as an ornamental plant, and is now considered a major agricultural and wildland noxious weed. I would not recommend growing it in your garden, orchard or fields. |
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Sub-Shrub - Having such a small area of plant, I was unable to find its flowers from 29 August to 30 December 2013. |
September, October Photo taken by H. Kavanagh on 21 August 2013 with the Artemesia being the wide area of green foliage next to the path. |
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Rhododendron/ Azalea/ Camellia |
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Rose |
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Retail name in UK should be |
36 x 44 |
Glossy, Mid-Green |
See WISLEY WISLEY Rose Classification System Page for details on this Rosa Retail Name 'Trade Name' RHS naming system. |
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Rosa glauca 'Carmenetta' and Page in RHS Wisley Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden Roses |
78 x 78 |
Green with Grey reverse |
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Soft Fruit |
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Top Fruit |
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Vegetable |
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Wildflower |
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Pincushions - The pincushions of plants such as scabious (Scabiosa columbaria from BritishFlora) are in reality compound flowerheads, with a dome of central florets surrounded by larger florets. |
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Site design and content copyright ©January 2014. Added Camera Photos of Plant Supports Gallery Link June 2019. Chris Garnons-Williams. I am attempting the same free link to mail-order nurseries for the people of Europe, Latvia, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China.
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