Fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'
Loropetalum chinense 'Shang-hi' (Purple Diamond) · Hamamelidaceae
Leaves of deep, rich purple that do not fade to green in summer, with fringed, hot-pink flowers in spring.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late March to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'
The planner designed this bed around fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 7, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 722 that suit those conditions, and says below why fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' × 1, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 20, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 30, yellow
- 4 Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' × 3, red
- 5 Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother' × 5, purple
- 6 Japanese forest grass 'All Gold' × 8, chartreuse leaves
- 7 Astilbe 'Deutschland' × 3, white
- 8 Camassia × 5, blue
Why this plant
- The only pink.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does Japanese forest grass 'All Gold'.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 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 astilbe 'Deutschland' (20 in): 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 7 weeks. From late March to early May.
- Opens the season. In all that time nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 10 of the 13 groups (77%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 48 to 52, left to right. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow and red as the warm notes, and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 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 fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 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 darkest and most compact of the purple fringe flowers. It is the staple purple evergreen of southern gardens, and keeps a rounded shape without shearing.
- Purple evergreen foliage
- Foundation planting in the South
- Contrast with gold and lime
What to plant with fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Glossy abelia: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid June.
- Gardenia: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late May; happy in the same moist soil.
- Lilyturf: carries the spot on into mid September; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'
Does fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' need sun or shade?
Fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 10. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late March to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 7 | Early March to mid April |
|---|---|
| Zone 8 | Early March to mid April |
| Zone 9 | Late February to early April |
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 fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' 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 fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after fringe flower 'Purple Diamond'?
Fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' is over by early May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Blue false indigo: from late May to mid June, 4 ft tall.
- Lupine: from late May to early July, 3½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Peony: from late May to late June, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' look like in winter?
Fringe flower 'Purple Diamond' keeps its purple and burgundy leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Loropetalum
- Chinese fringe flower Loropetalum chinense
In these guides
- Plants for dry shade
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- The first flowers of spring
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late March to early May; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; purple, burgundy
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Hamamelidaceae
- Comes from
- China to NE. Thailand, Japan (Honshu, Kyushu) and Taiwan
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.