When does Berberis thunbergii produce its shoots and buds?

What is the "cycle" of the plant? I'm a mite confused as to when it produces new growth. Whenever I see B. thunbergii it seems to be in purple leaf. When do the buds appear? Why do you not see leafless new growth? When is B. thunbergii dormant? Any info please.

 

Berberis is dormant over the winter months and you should start to see leaf buds appearing from now and over the next few weeks. New growth will happen as the spring/summer season progresses.

 

I don't record into-leaf date (well, I do for Ash and Oak when they are a long way apart, but that's it!)

For my Berberis Orange King the flowering dates were 18Apr08 13Apr09 09Apr11. I've got a B. thunbergii but I haven't recorded flowering dates for it

 

Thanks. Where do these leaf buds appear? The Berberis I see are full of purple foliage. Will the buds appear on the existing stems? Should I see new leafless growth appearing amid the existing growth?

 

The leaf buds will appear over the existing stems. Yes the new growth will come from the existing stems. If you bare with me SimonZ, I'll go out and check mine right now and take a photo if the new growth is under way.

 

Thanks - looking forward to seeing that

 

Here we go. The picture quality isn't brilliant as I didn't stop to change my lens.
The buds on mine are mainly at the top at the moment.

 

Thanks - those are beautiful pictures. I can see there are some branches ending in purple leaves, others ending in stubby wood with nothing growing at the tip.

The branches with buds/purple leaves at the tips: were these last year's flowers/leaves? When did these particular branches emerge?

The branches with bare endings: are these new growths, or the remnants of last year's blooms?

Many of the branches have buds appearing along the stems. When did the buds first become noticeable? Did they spring up in the axils of last year's leaves?

Is there a point when the Berberis naturally dies back or flowers/foliage crumble away and new growth is seen? What does it look like in the dormant season?

Thanks.

 

Simon, without wishing to seem rude, can you tell me please why you are asking such in-depth questions on this particular plant.

 

Because I simply wish to know

 

Mos of my reply is in general, rather than specific to Berberis:

"stubby wood with nothing growing at the tip"

End of branch has died back.

"The branches with buds/purple leaves at the tips: were these last year's flowers/leaves?"

They are just buds that have opened. Buds will be at the tip (apical bud) and at the joints between a leaf and a stem. Buds can also form anywhere along the "bark" too, but plants only normally do this when a branch is broken / pruned, or for some similar "stress" reason.

"are these new growths, or the remnants of last year's blooms?"

Nothing to do with the flowers. Flowers make a seed pod when finished flowering (well, those sorts of plants that are not sterile), that drops off at some point, and that's it. The flowers don't go on to become branches

"Many of the branches have buds appearing along the stems. ... Did they spring up in the axils of last year's leaves?"

That's usually what happens.

" Is there a point when the Berberis naturally dies back or flowers/foliage crumble away and new growth is seen?"

I think what you are describing is the habit of a herbaceous Perennial. Berberis is a shrub, so behaves like a bushy tree (but smaller ) - it continues to grow and branch

"What does it look like in the dormant season? "

Many Berberis are evergreen, but this one is deciduous (or semi evergreen perhaps? which would mean it loses its leaves in cold winters only). Deciduous shrubs just look like a bunch of twigs in the winter - same as a deciduous tree - although some deciduous shrubs flower in Winter, so they have flowers on naked stems.

 

Thanks for that Kristen. I'm slowly getting there.