Physocarpus opulifolius "Lady in Red", 3 l pot

• Type: Ninebark
• Latin name: Physocarpus opulifolius
• Cultivar: Lady in Red
• Mature height: 1.5–2 m
• Leaves: dark red
• Pot: 3 L
• Light: sunny or semi-shaded
• Winter hardiness: USDA 3–7

Planting Plant in spring (late April – May) or autumn (September) in a sunny or partly shaded spot with fertile, well-drained soil; wet spots with standing water are unsuitable. Dig a hole twice as wide as the pot, mix the excavated soil with compost, set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot and water generously. Space plants 1–1.5 m apart.

Watering Water a young plant regularly for the first two years and more often in dry spells; an established plant needs watering only in long dry periods. Mulch the soil with bark or wood chips.

Pruning Prune after flowering or in early spring: remove dead and old branches and thin the shrub; coloured-leaf cultivars tolerate hard pruning.

Feeding and winter care Feed in spring with compost or an organic fertiliser and, if needed, with a complex fertiliser in spring – early summer; give no nitrogen in autumn. The plant is hardy in Estonia; protect a young plant in its first winter with mulch and spruce boughs if needed, and the trunk against hares and frost cracks.