Hmmmm...

sempervivum "Commander Hay." (Lol... not too large!)
Sempevivum "Bellot's Pourpre."
Ficus elastica "burgundy." (Ok, they may get large eventually but you can buy them small.)
Dracaena "Magenta." (not oval.)
Caladiums (Not oval.)
Aeonium Arboreum "Atropurpureum" or "Schwartzkopf."
Echeveria "Painted Lady."
Hawthoria coarctata v. adelaidensis (Definitely not oval. Is that too prickly?)

Persian shield
Acer palmatum

What is a barberry bush like, o experts? I've seen them quite a bit this spring, almost as common as the euonymous, and they look beautifully burgundy. Looked like it might fit the bill.

I haven't got one yet; I'm trying not to overdo it on the shrubs all at once as I learn about how best to overwinter them in my zone. But I've been really tempted.

Zabby, who realizes one of those latin names already mentioned may BE a barberry for all she know; how embarrassing

I was looking at the barberry-Berberis T. 'Royal Cloak' and read that it had sharp thorns :( so it's not going to work really well. But it was such a beautiful plant!

I have some kind of hardy upright fuschia which hasn't bloomed yet, but it has very beautiful, velvety purple leaves. It's supposed to have orange (!) flowers. You might try looking through the fuschia species.

Oh! for a barberry bush!!! I fell in love a few months ago but.... (I think the older leaves turn green, though).

Another love is sedums. Sedum spurium Dragon's Blood has reddish foliage and blood red flowers later on.... There's also Japanese maples. I suppose neither of those are really what you're looking for... lol.

I would LOVE Acer Palmatum - ben tsukuna(sp?) But they are SOOO expensive, and considering I'm doing gardening as an economical hobby, I can't justify spending for those.

I'll research the options here and find the most inexpensive choice. :)

If you come to the cactus and succulent show tomorrow or Sunday in Balboa Park, you will have lots and lots of choices in flavors of red. Did I mention that there is a sale also? The prices of plants are a 'bit' more than monthly meeting prices, but I guarentee that the prices at the Half Yearly Show & Sale will shame any nursery in town. If you even live near a nursery. And the selection can NOT be equaled out in town. Each seller is MORE than happy to discuss culture requirements with you, and nearly any person with a SDC&SS tag on will answer questions, or point you in the direction of a real expert on that species.

Quite a few succulents exhibit red, bronze, brass, brown, or interesting shades inbetween each of these when exposed year round to sun.

I'll have my name tag on but will be working the show hall with the judges till 1pm tomorrow. Then I will comb the sales area for plants that I crave. Sunday, I will only be there to pick up my exhibit plants after 4pm.

I had a PJIC (where "C" = "car") experience yesterday afternoon spending time with both of my sisters. We finally ended up at one sister's house to help her lay down some sod along a hill in her front yard. And in return, I got some spearmint (it's rampant all along the side of her house) AND some red-foliaged ajuga! I think it might be "Bronze Beauty" and some of what she had was already blooming (little blue flower spikes). She said she had moved it from another location to the one side of the house and it was spreading very nicely. What's great about it is that it's hardy from Zone 3 - 9, tolerates sun or shade, dry or wet, and spreads via runners. What more can you ask for? It's still in a little baggie. Gotta get out there and plant!

Jenny--ajuga will be great for your containers. It can be invasive in a ground-garden.

As for red-leaved plants, what about coleus? Certain ornamental grasses? Some begonias? Oxalis triangularis (not oval)? Aren't there some cannas with reddish foliage?

vic - I noticed that about it in the ground. I think that's why she moved it to a border area with edging to try to keep it in check. LOL

Thanks for reminding me about begonias too. I am hunting for my "Brandy" wax begonias (all of the "Cocktail" series have red leaves):

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Have an overwintered pot of "Gin" outside now.

Another I thought of was a burgandy-colored castor bean that I recall seeing on HGTV a couple years ago. In fact, the show I saw was about a garden that used almost nothing but the darker foliage plants, interspersed with a few silvers or whites. The owner had purposely sought that type of plant.

I just saw a new (I think) variety of Coleus at the nursery the other day called Merlot. It's beautiful, and the colour is like Merlot.

I just bought some snapdragons with deep burgundy-purplish foliage. I think it was 'Red Rocket'. It'll get deep red flowers, but, the foliage was so beutiful, that I had to get it. I also like to use 'Ace of Spades' sweet potato vine. The leaves aren't oval, but, the color is beautiful. Some new guinea impatiens have red-purplish foliage and I do have the cannas with purple leaves - very striking. I also think some of the ornamental peppers come with oval red foliage. Good luck and let us know what you decided on.

Victrola, that "red wizard" coleus (or whatever its real name is) that we bought at Jean-Talon is planted up in big planters outside the provincial courthouse here... looks lovely... but it hasn't grown a centimetre in weeks! I walk past every day, and note that it hasn't moved. At all. The pansies around it look like monsters. We'll have to see what these do. Very pretty, very red, but very lazy it seems.

I've along planter with and I mean RED lettuce.. a good underplanting or as an accent through the spring...Gordon

Red Sails is a great lettuce, or Red Oak Leaf. You can also plant lettuce in August for a fall crop. Keep some space handy.

plantsan, I was at White Rose the other day and took a closer look at one of those barberries; was sad to see you were right, they have small but sharp thorns. Waaah. I'd never taken that close a look before.

Zabby

plantsan,

Ok, I just committed a crime on your behalf. I was at Loblaws (big grocery store with garden centre), checking to see if stuff had started to go on sale yet, and saw a shrub with oval, red-purple leaves. Purpler than the barberries it was next to, but it had no spikes, I checked. It was REALLLY pretty. I had more errands to do before coming home, and was afraid I wouldn't remember the info about it correctly, so I stole the tag off one of them. I hope I can use the Internet from my prison cell...

It's a "royal purple smoke tree," or "cotinus coggygria royal purple." The tag says to grow in full sun; that the hardiness zones are 5 to 9; that it's known "for the 'smoke' that developes during flowering and shrouds the plant in dense, cloudy puffs"; and that it costs $24.99 Cdn (about $18 U.S.)

It was a lovely little shrub in a one- or two-gallon pot, about a foot high and spreading not quite that wide; the tag says second year. But it also says it really is a tree, not a shrub --- will grow to 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Now, we all know Aunt Jenny says anything can be grown in a container, but this might need to be SOME container!

Anyway, there may be some other obvious reason, besides the 15 feet thing, why it's totally unsuitable, but it looked like it might fit your bill so I thought I'd pass it on. It sure was pretty. I tried to find a photo on the Web but all the smoke trees I found were other colours; oh well.

Cheers,

Zabby

Did it look like this, Zabby?

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To grow up and look like this?

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Very nice - and definitely a BIG container!

PV

Zabby,
Is not a problem.
We have a 20 tree outside the shop BUT, a tip I got from a friend, if you prune it hard back to about 12" every year it stays a nice bush size.
Ric

Yes, it looked EXACTLY like PV's first photo!

I bow to your superior research skills....

Thanks,

Zabby

Yeah, I saw the Smoke Shrub. It's lovely Zabby :p Sorry you had to do something bad :) But thank you. I think I'll get one of these. The colorage is just gorgeous.

plantsan, tell us how it does if you get one! If my holly survives I want to try another shrub next year.

And I think after all the $$ I have spent at the Loblaws garden centre this season, they can spare me a paper tag for a good cause...

Zabby

Zabby - I saw the same tree (it was about 5ft tall) at the nursery where I got my last PJIC haul. They had a bunch of purple or red-leafed shrubs and trees including that smoke bush and the usual sand cherries.

And yes, anything can be grown in a container. It's a matter of right-sizing and pruning. ;-)

Jenny, I would not be in the least surprised to hear it if you had a 15-foot tall, 12-foot wide royal purple smoke tree on your balcony.... ;-)

(Boy, that'd be some screen from the guy next door, huh? LOL)

Zabby

On the topic of shrubs, don't forget purple-leafed sandcherries (though I was heartbroken--bought one last spring, didn't survive the harsh winter we had in Montreal this year).

Zabby - don't give me any ideas. ;-)

Actually, if I didn't have a roof over the balcony, I'd probably have some sort of tree like that. But alas, many trees do best with some sort of overhead sun.

victrola - sorry to hear about the sand cherry. I have had my share of winter or spring casualties this year - mostly due to overwatering in a time when overcast, cool, and/or rainy seems to be the trend for this year. I always see those sand cherries for sale at a number of places here every year but manage to resist.

I know there are other red-foliaged shrubs, including those having red new growth (a few of which that I have - pieris "Valley Rose", "Wine and Roses" weigela, leucothoe "Girard's Rainbow"), but I'm not sure how they would do in a desert climate... However, there is something that should do well and that's one of the red-leafed ficus elasticas that they sell so much of over here. Particularly the one that WP mentioned. I know you're looking for leaves that aren't "too large" but a good ole ficus would still be cool. :-P

A smaller guy might include that ubiquitous sweet potato vine "Blackie".

There are tons of coleus with many shades of red combined with other colors. "Merlot" is actually velvety black and gorgeous. Walter Andersen Nursery in Pt. Loma has a huge variety.

Hi. I received a beautiful potted plant as a thank you for some help I had given. Its about three and a half feet tall in the pot. It has gorgeous deep red to maroon foliage. The immature foliage is green. The leaves are about twelve inches long, and pointed at the ends, like Dracaena. I am trying to find its name. Any help is appreciated Thanks

bob

I have Penstemon'Husker Red'.