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Mixed garden border along white picket fence includes Mojo Pittosporum in front, Purple Diamond in middle and Obsession Nandina abutting a cement porch

Create Big Garden Appeal with Compact Loropetalum

  1. Home
  2. Create Big Garden Appeal with Compact Loropetalum
  • By Kim Toscano
  • August 6, 2019
Goodbye old-fashioned, house-swallowing loropetalums.

Say hello to Purple Diamond® Semi-dwarf Loropetalum, tamed and improved for today’s landscape. With compact growth and enriched color, Purple Diamond brings loropetalums into the 21st Century. No longer relegated to the spacious back forty, loropetalum can now take center stage in the landscape. Here are a few ways to use this garden gem.

Radiant Accent

The fountain-like form and deep purple color make for a striking accent in the garden. Purple Diamond® has the richest color of any purple-leafed loropetalum on the market, and its color lasts all season – despite summer heat or winter chill. Try planting Purple Diamond in entrance beds to welcome visitors year round. The spring floral display will wow guests, and you may enjoy encore performances of the vibrant pink blossoms throughout summer.

Design Tips

  • Create contrast to draw attention – try golden or silver-blue foliage.
  • Texture also provides contrast. Pair Purple Diamond with grasses or the fine-textured ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia.
  • Let Purple Diamond shine – limit other purple foliage in close proximity.
  • Echo the color purple in nearby flowers. Try a a mass of Little Blue Fountain™ Agapanthus.
  • Accentuate the vase-like form of Purple Diamond with contrasting forms such as the low mounding Yewtopia® Plum Yew or columnar evergreens.

Mass Color

The compact size of Purple Diamond® Loropetalum is ideal for massing in beds and borders. Groups of plants will add a bold pop of color in a large border. For a formal design, plant in rows for a lush hedge. Or plant a playfully winding line of purple through a large bed. Go modern by planting a rectangular block of Purple Diamond in a grid pattern. Depending on the color of your house, Purple Diamond can make a stunning foundation. This application works best with light-colored facades.

Design Tips

  • Avoid pruning hedgerows of Purple Diamond® – the arching foliage will create a stunning, natural hedge.
  • There is such a thing as too much purple – balance Purple Diamond® with plenty of greenery in a foundation planting.
  • Loropetalum is excellent for stabilizing soil. Plant in masses along slopes.
  • Play with color in a bed or border. Pair Purple Diamond® with the golden foliage of ‘Lemon Lime’ Nandina and echo the foliage color in the bulky blooms of ‘Big Daddy’ Hydrangea.
  • Repetition is a useful device. Repeat clumps of Purple Diamond® throughout the design.

Purple is a great color for garden design as it harmonizes with so many other colors in the landscape.

Kim Toscano

Kimberly Toscano is a freelance writer, gardening expert and traveler with an eye on design. Kimberly blends her formal training in horticulture and entomology with her passion for design to educate and inspire gardeners.
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Plants Featured In The article

Nandina
Lemon-Lime Nandina foliage clippings in bright chartreuse green and dark green against white background

'Lemon-Lime' Nandina

Nandina domestica ‘Lemon-Lime’ PP24749
Loropetalum

Purple Diamond® Semi-dwarf Loropetalum

Loropetalum chinense ‘Shang-hi’ PP18331
Plum Yew

Yewtopia® Plum Yew

Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Plania’
Hydrangea
Close-up on big beautiful round Big Daddy Hydrangea blue bloom head

'Big Daddy' Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Big Daddy’ PP14527
Mahonia

‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia

Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ PP20183
Agapanthus

Little Blue Fountain™ Agapanthus

Agapanthus Hybrid ‘Brilliant Blue’ PP25966

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