Plum Purple Leaved or to give it its Latin name, Prunus Cerasifera Nigra from the family Rosaceae, is a deciduous native plant of southeast Europe and western Asia although now naturalised in Britain and some areas of North America.
As with many species of cherry plum, the purple leaved variety produces blossom early in the season in March and April to give a beautiful colour when its leaves and the blossom and leaves of other plants are yet to appear.
Either for use as a very ornamental shrub or a spectacular coloured hedge it makes for a wonderful addition to the garden. It can be used either as a single species hedge with its amazing purple/black foliage and contrasting pink flowers or to equally as wonderful planted with Plum Myrobalan to give a tapestry effect. If the latter then we recommend planting one Myrobalan Plum to two Purple Leaved as it is a slightly less vigorous plant. The dark purple fruits produced are sometimes used in jam-making as they can be a little sharp to eat. Prunus cerasifera nigra is also occasionally used in bonsai.
In order to get the best colour from the foliage Plum Purple Leaved is best planted in full sun in any reasonable slightly moist but well drained soil. It will tolerate some shade but some leaf colour will be forfeited. Hedge planting density for Plum Purple Leaved to grow to 1-2 metres in height would be between 3-5 plants per metre and would need to be trimmed after flowering.
As Plum Purple Leaved is pot grown it can be planted an any time of year, however do bear in mind that if planted with Plum Myrobalan to get the tapestry effect, and is supplied as bare root then planting would need to be between November and March.
Any questions or queries you may have with reference to Plum Purple Leaved then please direct them to one of our team by ringing the office and we will endeavour to help.
Delivery leadtimes update- March/April 2024
We are working at maximum capacity to fulfil all orders as quickly as possible but owing to unprecedented demand some orders will take longer:
– Orders containing only bare root plants – delivery is currently within 5-7 days
– All other orders – delivery is currently within 2-3 weeks
Delivery is free for most orders above our free delivery thresholds, these are displayed above our prices in the product listings and summarized below. If you don’t need that many plants it’s not a problem, you can choose to pay our delivery charge and only order what you need.
Delivery is convenient – no signature is required so you don’t need to wait in, we will leave your parcel in the safe place that you nominate.
Delivery is fast – because we pick orders daily from our own growing beds your plants only travel the small hop to our packing shed before being sent to you, they are usually delivered within 3-7 days.
Delivery is reliable – we have been selling and delivering Hedging Plants to our customers nationwide since 1992. We have a lot of experience in packing them safely and only use tried and tested delivery partners.
Smaller Plants (Parcel Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Up to £90 | £15.00 |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £90 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | £24.00 |
Heavy Plants (Pallet Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Up to £420 | £72.00 |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £420 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | £72.00 |
Tall Plants 2.5m+ (Specialist Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Under £1800 | Please call us |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £1800 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | Not available |
Exceptions to our delivery charges are Scottish Highland and Isle of Wight delivery areas where we need to charge a little extra to cover the cost of deliveries to these outlying areas. We don’t currently delivery to other offshore addresses including Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
Tall plants over 2.5 metres have to be delivered by our own specialised transport, our delivery area is limited to mainland England and Wales only.
Please note there is a minimum order value of £50 for orders containing smaller plants and £250 for orders containing heavier plants
Complete delivery information can be viewed on our Delivery Information page
