Buy Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Atropurpureum'

Though doubtless many purple-leaved forms have been introduced under the name Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Atropurpureum', this one is ours, grown from cuttings of the lovely 12 ft tall x 4 ft wide specimen in the garden of Western Hills Nursery in Northern California. The 1", rounded leaves, yes purple and held among black stems, and carnation-scented, nearly black flowers, might possibly sound morbid but are, in fact, dazzlingly beautiful. Plants, easily kept as a formal element or background hedge in the garden, are easily shorn to maintain even tighter shape. Prefers bright light or only dappled shade with regular summer water in dry climates. This has proven to be one of the frost hardiest cultivars, surviving 7F briefly in the garden at Western Hills in 1990 and having turned not a leaf with a windy 20F in our garden. Frost hardy to at least 10F, USDA zone 8; a container plant or an experiment in zone 7.