Check out the dealer on Garden Watchdog to see if they are reliable.

More than likely they are selling seedlings of the purple ninebark 'Diablo' (or any of the many purple leafed ninebarks now on the market). You would be better to just buy one at a local nursery- here in Iowa Summer Wine and Lady in Red have had the best mildew resistance of the purple leafed varieties. Stay away from Coppertina and Center Glow as they are mildew magnets.

Agree with this^....but one additional comment: So, let's say these are random seedlings of unknown parentage, but which appear to have the purplish foliage. I would not use these where I knew I needed such and such a plant height, etc. because that is very likely to be unknown. But where you just want cover-and ninebarks are native across many parts of the northern and central US-these chance seedlings could still be of value. Other than that, what Select said.....

It was on Ebay, so I don’t think they would be
on Garden Watchdog. I went to Ebay because I could not find the wildflowers I
wanted on any other regular catalog company’s site.

I wasn’t shopping for a ninebark specifically,
but the photos got my attention. Anything with red or dark foliage gets my
notice.

My biggest concern would not be height, but
if it ended up with a weedy growth pattern.

I could not find much of anything online to
say what ninebark’s liked as far as sun and soil moisture are concerned. The
area where I need some shrubs have morning sun and afternoon shade from 2 large
spruces. Those have lower limb die-off, so I need some foreground coverage. At
the same time, it’s in a swale so tends to be moist. But not all the time. It’s
not an area where I want to invest a lot of money.

Lacking that information, I think I will
pass on buying them. Thanks for the help!

"I went to Ebay because I could not find the wildflowers I wanted on any other regular catalog company’s site."

If you were unable to find wildflowers from a reputable dealer, then chances are the ones you bought were dug illegally from nature.