Trees and shrubs form the background of a garden bed and give it structure. Purple foliage is a dramatic foil for perennials with golden foliage, variegated leaves in green and gold, or even green leaves that have a yellow tint to them.
Trees
- Purple smoke tree (Cotinus coggygri atropurpureum) is another small tree that tops out at ten feet. The leaves are a deep, eggplant purple. In summer it bursts forth with foot long feathery panicles of pink flowers that resemble clouds of smoke – thus the common name. C. ‘Royal Purple’ and ‘Velvet Cloak’ are varieties that hold their deep color all season. Remove the bottom limbs to train it to a tree form. Hardy in zones 5-8.
- ‘Forest Pansy’ Redbud (Cercis Canadensis) blooms in clusters of reddish purple flowers before its shiny, almost lacquered looking heart shaped foliage appears. This small tree does best with some shade; too much sunlight can fade the leaves to green. It keeps on putting out new, dark leaves all summer. It will reach about 10-15 feet in height. Hardy in zones 5 to 9.
- Crabapples (Malus hybrids) often come with deep purple foliage and the newer varieties are relatively disease resistant. ‘Robinson’, ‘Prairiefire’, and ‘Purple Prince’ are good purples with attractive flowers in spring. Malus x purpurea, the Lemoine crabapple, is a French hybrid with purple color in all parts – leaves, flowers, fruit, which does well in cold areas. Hardy in zones 4-7.
- Many Japanese maples have a good reddish purple color, but a few have foliage that is closer to purple. These include these Acer palmatum: ‘Margaret Bee’, ‘Yasmin’ and ‘Emperor’. All are upright rather than weeping forms. Another new variety, ‘Purple Ghost’ has purple foliage and black veins. ‘Boskoop Glory’ emerges pinky red in spring but turns to plum in summer. Hardy in zones 5b to 9.
Shrubs
- Prunus cistena (purple sand cherry) is a shrub that can be trained into a small tree, reaching an eventual height of seven to ten feet. It has relatively small, elliptical leaves of a reddish purple color, and fragrant pinkish purple flowers in May. Hardy in zones 3b to 7b.
- Physocarpus ‘Summer Wine’ (ninebark tree) is a shrub that reaches 5-6 feet tall and wide, with deep purple foliage and button-like white flowers in midsummer. It is a relatively new variety, about half the size of the typical ninebarks, and is hardy from zones 3-8.
- Many barberries (Berberis thunbergii) come in a deep reddish purple color – just be careful of the thorns. The leaves are tiny ovals. They have yellow flowers plus berries (that reseed like mad but do provide food for the birds in winter.) The most purple of these is B. ‘Bagatelle’ – the other thunbergii tend more toward red foliage. Barberries in this family are small – about 2.5 feet high and wide. Hardy in zones 5 to 8.
- Two Weigela, ‘Midnight Wine’ and ‘Wine and Roses’ both have purple foliage that intensifies as summer progresses, especially when planted in sun. ‘Wine and Roses’ gets about 5 feet tall, but ‘Midnight Wine’ is a true dwarf, forming a mound about one foot high. Hardy in zones 4-8.
There are also many perennials with purple foliage, as can be seen in Perennials with Purple Leaves