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.
Avatar for Paintedtrillium
Nov 20, 2019 8:24 PM CST
Thread OP
Southern Maine (Zone 6a)
Birds Region: United States of America Plant and/or Seed Trader Peonies Organic Gardener Region: Northeast US
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Hi, thank you for the interesting comments. I have seen it mentioned that the life span is typically about 10 - 15 years. I've had mine close to thirty years. I occasionally will prune some of the older thicker stems to encourage new growth, treating it more like lilacs and red-twig dogwood. I have not had any problems with the roots. Both of my shrubs are in sandy soil in partial sun. I neither fertilize or mulch the roots.
I have lost a couple of single stem woody shrubs to canker, so perhaps growing these as shrubs has contributed to their longevity in my gardens. Smiling
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Nov 28, 2019 10:57 AM CST
Name: Rick Webb
southeast Pennsylvania (Zone 6b)
Most people don't really take good care of their shrubs; which includes this red-leaved shrub. By removing old stems or canes, it revives the plant so that the newer growth is vigorous and the borers and canker disease don't really attack. I have seen this shrub usually live about 15 years in the Chicago, IL and Philadelphia areas that are not the best environments for this because of hot dry summers and wet springs in an often humid climate. This hybrid species does best in a climate that does not get hot and that is not really humid, as farther out west in the USA. I may try to buy the one parent of the Sand Cherry (Prunus pumila) that is mostly native to the upper Great Plains and sometimes places in the upper Midwest and even the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast from a native plant nursery. I love best native plants of eastern North America and my passion is not for most cultivars.
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