Ninebark 'Tiny Wine'
Physocarpus opulifolius 'SMPOTW' (Tiny Wine) · Rosaceae
A dwarf ninebark with small, dark bronze-maroon leaves, covered from base to tip in early summer with pink-white flower clusters.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to late June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around ninebark 'Tiny Wine'
The planner designed this bed around ninebark 'Tiny Wine' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why ninebark 'Tiny Wine' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' × 1, white
- 2 Strawberry 'Lipstick' × 6, pink
- 3 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 4 Little bluestem × 5, blue-green leaves
- 5 Musk mallow × 3, pink
- 6 Black-eyed Susan 'Little Goldstar' × 3, yellow
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
- 8 Hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are open bowls, globes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to musk mallow (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late May to late June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With strawberry 'Lipstick', sea thrift and star of Persia in late May: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Pink runs through the planting: 3 of the 7 kinds grown for their flowers have it. The front edge is finished with sea thrift and strawberry 'Lipstick'.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where ninebark 'Tiny Wine' goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
The smallest dark ninebark, and resistant to the mildew that affects larger kinds. Dark foliage at this size is useful in the middle of a mixed bed.
- Dark foliage in a small garden
- The middle of a mixed border
- Low hedges
What to plant with ninebark 'Tiny Wine'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam': low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for four weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Daylily: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June.
Questions about ninebark 'Tiny Wine'
Does ninebark 'Tiny Wine' need sun or shade?
Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does ninebark 'Tiny Wine' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does ninebark 'Tiny Wine' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early June to late June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 6 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should ninebark 'Tiny Wine' be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3½ ft (110 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many ninebark 'Tiny Wine' plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is ninebark 'Tiny Wine' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat ninebark 'Tiny Wine'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after ninebark 'Tiny Wine'?
Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' is over by late June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam': from late June to early September, 18 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does ninebark 'Tiny Wine' look like in winter?
Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is ninebark 'Tiny Wine' good for bees and butterflies?
Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Physocarpus
- Common ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius
- Ninebark 'Dart's Gold' Physocarpus opulifolius 'Dart's Gold'
- Ninebark 'Diabolo' Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'
- Ninebark 'Little Devil' Physocarpus opulifolius 'Little Devil'
- Ninebark 'Summer Wine' Physocarpus opulifolius 'Seward' (Summer Wine)
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 3½ ft (110 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; dense clusters; white, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; burgundy, bronze
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Comes from
- Central and eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.