Ninebark makes an impression. This Rose-family member can grow in full sun or partial shade, can stand Black Walnut’s juglone, fills out for a beautiful dense hedge or windbreak that deer don’t seem to browse, and fibrous roots make them a regular candidate for riparian restoration to prevent soil erosion. One researcher believed that you’d need a bulldozer to fully remove those roots! Ninebark does grow very easily from suckers, which could get annoying, but we’re excited to prune back the arching stems after brilliant bloom for streamside mulch, easy propagation from cuttings, and rejuvenating fresh Spring growth.

Heavy green leaves turn Autumn yellow on Ninebark’s upright spreading form. White and pink flowers grow in a corymb (low flower stalks grow longer to match higher stalks to form a flat or convex head) and are an excellent nectar and cut flower source from May through July. Flowers turn to dry rosy-red fruit, or inflated follicles, which is why the genus name is a mix of Greek words meaning bladder fruit. Sounds unappetizing, but birds like them!

Ninebark’s name refers to the curious habit of shedding dark bark in reddish strips to reveal even more layers of bark, like the nine lives of a cat! This shrub grows all across Eastern North America, which explains nicknames like Eastern, Atlantic, and Common. Ninebark lives in moist soils and stream sandbars, woodland thickets, and rocky ravines. Ninebark can also come live near you!

We propagate our rooted Ninebark from cuttings, and we offer the cuttings too!