Admiration Barberry — One of the Best Colorful Shrubs for Denver Yards
A tidy, mounded dwarf barberry with vivid red-orange foliage and gold margins — reliable color for Colorado's tough sites.
Berberis thunbergii 'Admiration' is a dwarf barberry that stays under two feet tall and wide, forming a neat mounded shape without any pruning. The foliage is a fiery red-orange with a bright gold margin — a color combination that reads from across the yard.
For Denver homeowners, the key selling points are drought tolerance, deer resistance, and the ability to hold color in full sun without scorching. It's a workhorse for foundation plantings, low borders, and mixed containers.
We use 'Admiration' in front of taller evergreens where it provides a bold pop of color against a green backdrop, and in curb-appeal plantings where every plant has to earn its place.