Nandina Domestica

• 13 Jun, 2011
• 6 likes

This shrub is from New Zealand...Have had it approx one year, its part of the side garden planting, and has started to produce tiny flower buds on the top..also the leaves change colour too....This is the info I've managed to find out...It originates in Asia..

Heavenly bamboo is the Far East equivalent of holly: its red-berried branches are used for temple decorations and in many houses.

Heavenly it may be, but a bamboo it is not. Nandina's closest relation is the berberis, but it does have the slimmest of canes, a bit like a bamboo, and airy cut foliage. The canes are used for toothpicks, and I doubt any true bamboo is delicate enough for that.

But this barberry type is a year-round beauty: in spring, the new leaves emerge pinky-red; in summer, there are panicles of creamy-white flowers, followed by green berries. Its high point, however, is now, when the leaves flush crimson and the berries turn sealing-wax red.
If you google this shrub, you will see lovely photographic images displaying its beauty of.