Purple foliage

I'm looking for low growing to medium height plant or shrub with purple/maroon foliage.
Full sun
Any ideas or favorites??? I would also like it to be very neat looking and not something that droops, flops or spreads too much
Thanks!

I have Midnight wine Weigelia (a lot like wine and roses but smaller).

Two candidates: Wine and Roses Weigelia and Palace Purple Heuchera, although the color on my plants is closer to purple-brown than purple-maroon. By the way, the heuchera will provide plenty of reseedlings unless you pull them up promptly.

I have Weigelia on the list, thank you both!

Will that Huechera do well in full sun? I was looking at Huecheras but was worried they would burn up in full sun

Penstemon Husker Red....it does reseed babies, but not very many, & easily pulled out.

While looking up the Husker's Red found Mystica, too
Thanks!

Canna (needs moisture), millet, pennisetum rubrum and castor bean are great annuals.

Physocarpus Coppertina and Summer Wine. They are both better than Wine and Roses in my opinion. Much neater and tighter, especially after pruning the droopers. I like Midnight Wine weigela - nice and small and dense.

Many JM's.

I like Ninebark but they are too tall, is there a dwarf?

What do you consider tall?? Both the ones I mentioned are about 5', and can easily be pruned smaller.

Another nice one, but is water-needy, is ligularia Britt Marie Crawford.

Topping out at around 3 ½'

I would guess it's doable with those two.

How fast do they grow? Translation: am I going to be pruning all the time?

To keep it that small, probably 2-3 times a year, I would guess. I usually prune once a year - to eliminate the droopers. I am fine with the size.

Of course, barberry is another choice, though I don't recommend it.

Why don't you recommend it?

Invasive - through seeds. Mainly from birds. I am constantly removing it.

Oh really? I had it at our old house and no problems with it. Maybe the variety????

Possible.

I have Purple Palace Heuchera along my front path and gets close to full sun. They do fine until it gets real dry and hot in mid summer. They don't die but they just don't look as nice. If you give them extra water or have moist soil they'd probably do better than mine. They look good again when it cools off.

I have a Heuchera Marmalade that loves the sun and some red leaved Heucheras that also like the sun.

I got Penstemon Dark Towers this year from Lazy S, looks promising. It gets to 36," foliage is darker than Husker Red, blooms pink, supposedly handles heat well.

Pam

Thanks!

This entry isn't entirely purple but it has purple accents and deep dark flowers: Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'. It is an easily grown cranesbill with an upright habit and mine is currently 2 1/2 feet tall right now and blooming away. The purple markings on the green leaves are beautiful and offset total purple foliage.
Here's a picture of mine I took last week.
Martha

Here's the foliage for 'Samobor'
Martha

I have that in my purple and orange garden

That's the one in between the geum

The leaves of 'Palace purple' heuchera burned in the sun here. If one plants barberry make sure it is the American type not the Japanese. that one is invasive & is banned here in Mass.

That Samobor looks gorgeous! Mine went in last summer, hasn't done its thing yet, or at least hadn't as of last Tuesday. I'll get to see it again Sunday, maybe by then....

Pam

I planted mine last spring.

Thanks for the info Iris

At the nursery yesterday I saw another nice purple Heuchera, 'Plum Pudding'. PlantFiles says sun to full shade.

I have many purple heucheras....Plum Royale is small & frosty looking....getting to be my favorite....

'Samobor' has taken off. I regularly harvest seedlings for my garden club plant sale in the spring.
Martha

Samobor is very pretty.....

What do you think of......
Euphorbia Blackbird
Geranium Orkney Cherry
Heuchera Obsidian
Sedum Picolette or purple Emperor
?????

Gardenmart, thanks for the post about geranium Samobor. Unless there are others like it, I think that's what I just picked up yesterday at our high school's plant sale. Very pretty foliage markings, and the blossom is dark, but not quite as dark a purple as "Lily Lovett".

My Orkney Cherry didn't make it through this winter :(, but you're further south....

I actually bought Samobor as a small 4" pot at a plant sale for the unusual foliage pattern. I love unusual foliage patterns. The flowers were a plus once I got it planted.
Martha

There is another hardy geranium to consider: Expresso. As you'd expect the "purple" leaves are closer to coffee tinged in color. The flowers are pale. I found it in Plantfiles.

Camassia. Nothing like it. I don't know where you can get it, as I inherited it when we bought our house; it used to be popular, but isn't anymore.
Out of this world purple. You have to see it to believe it.

Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camassia

My camassia is blue and has finished blooming for this year. It was here when we bought the house.

My Samobor was blooming this weekend-- so exciting. I got to show it off to Robindog on her visit to my garden on Monday. Also the first peony was blooming, Festiva Maxima, white Baptisia just going by, Gallery Lupines going to seed and my first love, Blue Russell Lupine blooming its head off, Aquilegia going mad in blue, purple, pale lavender and pink. Foxglove Pam's choice getting ready, perennial foxgloves ditto...Also a huge snapping turtle burrowing into the newly renovated daylily bed- Yikes!!! I think he's moved in! How do I get rid of him? A lady box turtle laid eggs in the lawn last week, but she was gone in a few hours. Every time I checked on this guy, he had burrowed deeper and deeper towards the middle of the bed.

We won't be back there again until Sunday. I really really hope he's gone!l. Jerry thinks he won't find enough food, and will leave on his own. We'll see...

Oops! Off topic.... Sorry....

Pam