As a comment about
Purple Leaf Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena),
ILPARW wrote:
This is a hybrid between the Purple-leaf Plum Tree or Pissard Plum (Prunus cerasifera 'Atropurpurea', that was introduced into France from Iran in 1880 from the Shah's gardens, with the Sandcherry (Prunus pumila) that is a shrub of willow-like habit from the northeastern US. It was introduced by Dr. Hansen of South Dakota State University in 1910 into the nursery trade. Most every conventional nursery sells some form of this hybrid in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast US. It does have pretty red foliage and nice flowers in spring. However, I've always considered it as a fast growing, cheap, junky shrub. Many homeowners use it wrongly with yellow foliaged plants and bluer foliaged evergreens to create a gaudy bright colour spot that takes away from the vision of the home. Its root system like that of the Purple-leaf Plum Tree is weak and it often lodges some. After about 15 years in regions where there are summer bouts of humid, hot spells, especially with drought, this shrub is attacked by canker disease and borers and dies out. I've seen this a lot in the Chicago, IL, and Philadelphia, PA regions. I used to have a photo of several shrubs in a group dying in the front yard of a large house in Media, PA, about 2012.