What Berberis for a container?

I have a big (50cm diameter at the widest, 50cm high) round pot (picture attached) that I was planning to plant a Berberis in soon. (Partly because we're expecting our first baby, and we're calling them Arlo, which among other things means Berberis, and the pot was a family inheritance so seems suitable). Probably location in the garden would be partial shade. But would a Berberis do well in a container of this size, and what kind of Berberis would do best?

 

Perhaps a Berberis darwinii 'Compacta'? Yellow flowers in Spring for a couple of months followed by blue berries in Summer and good for wildlife! Think it might cope fine at the upper end of part shade, say 5-6 hours of sun. Not sure if it'll be suitable for a container that small tho, so I'll wait for more knowledgeable members to chime in.

Berberis darwinii 'Compacta'

Nick

 

Hi @Deebles , welcome to the forum!

Arlo is a lovely name, and connecting it with a plant in a container inherited from the family sounds somehow very right .

Berberis can be deciduous but that's ok, putting up some (solar) fairy lights will make the plant stand out also during the dark nights. (And you'll have something to look at when carrying Young Arlo around in the depths of the night trying to convince them it's sleeptime ) Your lovely container has some teal tones on the top that might contrast nicely with a purple leaved (atropurpurea) Berberis.

Berberis needs strong light to look good, so partial shade is not the best option.

A 50cm pot will house a shrub of Berberis size for a fair few years and there are many options. Here are some links for inspiration:

Buy Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea' in the UK
Buy Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea Atropurpurea Nana (Barberry) in the UK

 

I agree with Selleri, Berberis to look their best need quite a bit of sunshine. The bright yellow especially sulks a bit in shade. Red rocket which is superb is again best in full sun but still very nice in a shadier spot but Atropurpurea I have in a shadier part and it does ok.
Here is 1 of my Red Rockets. Obviously I was taking a photo of the Iris but shows the colour quite well altho it is actually a bit brighter than that and goes absolutely scarlet before dropping it’s leaves.

 

Thank you all for the help!
Sun can be arranged, as I have a sunny spot in my front garden that may work. The back is sadly North facing.