Plant Image Data Base                                         

  Prunus x cistena

                                                        Purple leaf Sand Cherry

• Form
  • medium-sized ornamental shrub
  • maturing at about 8' tall by 8' wide
  • upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming spreading with age, then arching outward from the open center at maturity (unless already pruned into better shape)
  • medium growth rate
• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun
  • prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun, but is quite adaptable to adverse conditions and is very urban tolerant (especially to poor soils, drought, heat, and heavy shearing)
• Foliage
  • emerging bright reddish-purple and remaining crimson-purple throughout most of the Summer, slowly changing to a bronzy-green fall color
  • foliage will change quickly to bronzy-green in Summer if it is sited in a semi-shady spot
• Flowers
  • pink buds are coincident with the emerging red foliage and open to white-pink flowers in April, being solitary, directly pendulous from the previous year's wood, and noticeable, but not especially showy

• Function
  • focal point shrub with showy red-purple foliage that is used as a specimen, at borders, at entranceways, as a deciduous screen, in group plantings, or as a formal or informal hedge
• Assets
  • red, maroon, purple, or bronzy foliage during the entire growing season
  • rapid establishment
  • very urban tolerant
  • white-pink ephemeral flowers are subtle but starkly contrasted against the emerging red foliage
  • very hardy to cold Winters and tolerant of hot/humid Summers
• Purpose
  • Purple leaf Sandcherry is one of the very few ornamental shrubs with reddish-purple foliage.
• Summary
  • Prunus x cistena is a medium-sized shrub with an upright oval then spreading growth habit, having red-purple foliage that does not fade very much during the Summer, and subtle white-pink Spring flowers.

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