looks like one of the lysmachia's but that doesnt fit the 'evergreen' tag.

It's definitely not that - too red. MIght be one of those things that the garden centre tells you is evergreen and hardy, but in reality, keels over at the first hint of frost,

Looks like one that I have in the garden and it has small yellow flowers but I cant remember the name sorry and does die down with the cold & frosty days, the root system looks like you would get in goldenrod, I have added my one to my Pictures for you to see. :o)))) Oh! The leaves also start to go from red to green later.

it also looks like a young copper beech or even the purple basil. dont suppose it has any scent?

Sorry but it does look like Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecracker'.

But they've finished flowering now, Fractal - and the dark leaves do change colour as the season progresses. I've even cut mine back this week as they were looking so awful - so if this photo is current, I can't see it being the Lysimachia.

thats the one I was thinking of Fractal.

I don't think this is a current photo. Also, the client may be confusing evergreen with perennial. You will not be surprised at customers I have had in the past that have been adamant about a particular feature of a plant they are describing and when a photo is duly produced.....they are completely wrong!

It is, Fractal, I took it this afternoon. That's why I need to know what it is, client could be talking absolute codswallop, I wouldn't be surprised, he does it all the time - there is an evergreen purple leafed shrub that I can't remember the name of, but I'm not sure its this. I have the lysimachia you refer to in another garden, and it looks nothing like this does now.

The only shrub I can think of with leaves like this is Loropetalum, but that has alternate leaves.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see if it does survive the winter - bit of a pain, because I need to replant the area, and not knowing what that is doesn't help. I don't recognise it at all... was just hoping you'd seen it, Fractal.

i was also thinking loropetalum, but on second looks i am not sure now.

I keep looking at this and I still go back to Lysimachia. I wonder if it was cut back a month or two ago and these are just new shoots coming through again?

Cut back, you must be joking - this client sticks stuff in any old how - I could just about see some of the leaves through the mess of lettuce, beans, sweet peas, tomatoes and kale all shoved in a heap of compost he'd laid on top of weeds and plants already growing (too lazy to dig and plant properly) in a patch no bigger than 9 x 9 inches... I uncovered it last week and had to push stuff off it today to get the photograph. I reckon its about as likely to be an evergreen shrub as I am to wake up 25 years younger tomorrow.

I have this in my garden, and have emailed the person who gave it to me, hoping she can remember its name. This is about 8" tall, a pinky-red; I have Lysimachia too which is much browner . . . definitely not Lysimachia.

Sheilabub - how long have you had yours, and is it evergreen?

Possibly Lophomyrtus which does have paired leaves. Red Dragon may be the form. I would hardly call this plant all that hardy though.

Checked that out, Fractal, and that is the one I was thinking of, seen it in garden centres, couldn't remember the name - but I'm not sure its this. I suspect if I clear the area and leave it in, being in a northfacing garden with heavy, cold and wet soil, it'll keel over in the winter, which will solve my problem for replanting. Fingers crossed, lol;-)) thanks for the info.

Sorry, Bamboo, I've only had mine for six weeks, so I've no idea whether it's evergreen! The person who gave it to me says it's "Love Lies Bleeding" but I'm not so sure. In this month's Gardens Illustrated, on page 59, there's a Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' that looks a bit like it. Good luck in your quest . .

Love lies bleeding - well that's the common name for Amaranthus, an annual, but who knows what plant your friend actually means, lol! Thanks for trying Sheilabub

leaves look wrong for lophomyrtus, checked it out at my G.C today. and i dont think its Persicaria either. I am sure i know this plant, but it escapes me..

It's not Lophomyrtus, I've got that. The leaves are too big on this whatever-it-is.

Couldn't be Itea virginica, could it?

Good stab but Itea has alternate leaves too. This plant appears to have opposite leaves.

Oh dear. This one is a real puzzle! I've run out of red-leaved shrubs and plants that I know or grow! :-((

it certainly isnt persicaria red dragon either.

Just throwing this out there^.^Could it not be a young Cornus?Especialy if it has only appeared recently.
Lordroth

Hi Lordroth. I don't know of a Cornus with leaves this colour when its actively growing as this appears to be. Some of the Cornus species with large bracts around their flowers (C. kousa, C. nutallii etc.) have exceptional autumn colour especially on acid soils but I can say for certain that this is no Cornus. This shrub is apparently evergreen anyway. Thanks for the input though.

No worries fractal...just thought it was a dead ringer for my Cornus alba Kesselringii ^.^
Lordroth

I checked out all the ones mentioned just in case - the Cornus mentioned has black stems, but this plant has stems the same colour as the leaves. It's also a bit soft stemmed, or seems so to me. I'd be surprised if this is a shrub at all, and even more surprised were it evergreen - client's either got his info wrong, or he's been given the wrong info.
Thanks to all for trying. I'll get back next year and let you know what it did... or is still doing then, maybe, lol.

bamboo, does it feel shrubby like , or does it feel perennial like?

Right at the start of this I kept thinking this looks like an Iresine but no, its supposed to be a hardy evergreen shrub. I think your client is confusing this with something else. He probably stuck this bedding plant in because he liked the colour of the leaves and thinks its a shrub, or was told it was by the person who sold it to him. I bet its an Iresine!

....could also be an Alternanthera.

I'm going to leave this here now or it will go on forever!

Good luck in your quest Bamboo!!!

Iresine was my first thought, Fractal - if it is, it'll be gone by January...
Stevebuk - stems don't feel woody, but they're not completely soft either.
Alternanthera - never heard of it, but having googled it, you might be right Fractal, it could be A. Purple Knight - but again, it'll keel over in the winter if it is that.
I'm going to ignore it for replanting purposes I think - maybe shove it in a pot to see if it actually gets through the winter. There's no place for it in my planting scheme for the area, that's for sure, though if I thought it was genuinely hardy, I'd have included it.
Thanks everyone.

You'll all be pleased to know that, while clearing the border today, I found a plant tag with the name Alternanthera Purple Knight on it - hooray! So I'm happily anticipating its demise over winter, despite the client's firm belief that its hardy - I shoved it back in, watered it and we'll see what it does.

Oh - I had two of those last year in a late summer pot, after I had to change it when the ants got in. They definitely didn't like ths frost... So 'that's' what it was, after all this!

I'll sleep tonight :-)

Ha ha Fractal - very neat!