Viburnum tinus Purpureum

The Viburnum tinus 'Purpureum' is a tin laurel cultivar that stands out from the typical species by its beautifully coloured, purple-bronze spring leaves and its slightly smaller size. Its winter to spring small pink-white clusters of blooms, sometimes heralded in the autumn by decorative pink floral buds, add to its charm. Its very dense and abundant evergreen leaves are attractive all year round. It is a hassle-free garden plant, perfect for creating a privacy or windbreak hedge with no pruning requirements. Lastly, the tin laurel will adapt to any exposure, even shade, and to any soil, even very chalky and dry in summer.

The tinus Purpureum laurel belongs to the family of Caprifoliaceae, or Adoxaceae according to classifications. The Viburnum tinus species is native to the Mediterranean basin, is found in undergrowth, forest margins, and scrubland. It is a relatively cold-resistant evergreen bush (down to -15°C (5 °F) for short periods for an adult plant), which adapts to a wide range of soil types as long as they are not too wet or waterlogged in winter. Its fruits are consumed by birds that 'sow' the plant seeds under the trees they perch in: it is typically an undergrowth bush that copes perfectly with competition from other tree roots.

The moderately fast-growing Viburnum tinus Purpureum has a fairly upright, bushy and ramified habit from the base. It will reach about 1.75 m (5 ft 8 in) to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in height with a 90 cm (35.4 in) girth. Its branches carry single, elliptical, pointed leaves at their end with undulate and villous borders, 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) long by 3.5 to 4.5 cm (1.4 to 1.8 in) wide. They are of a leathery texture and slightly shiny. In the spring, the young leaves are deep purple, then turn bronze before becoming dark green at maturity. Flowering often starts in autumn, depending on the regions. The end of the year-old or over branches form cyme inflorescences that resemble small, round, and slightly domed clusters of 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) in diameter. They are densely filled with pink floral buds which remain decorative all winter. These buds bloom from February to April as small flowers with 5 pink-white petals. This fragrant flowering is highly attractive to bees. After pollination, the flowers give way to ovoid 5 to 6 mm (0.2 to 0.2 in)-long berries, a metallic blue-black, containing a single seed. Tin laurel seeds must discard their pulp to be able to germinate: this step is naturally carried out by the digestive system of birds.

Really easy to grow, covered with leaves all year round, the tin laurel Purpureum is only averse to very harsh winters, especially when young. As it tolerates sea spray, it can confidently be grown in coastal areas. Like the Elaeagnus ebbingei, photinias, strawberry trees, myrtles and the Rhamnus alaternus Argenteovariegata, it is perfect for giving a permanent structure to a garden, especially in hot and dry regions where it thrives.  Highly tolerant of shade and competition from other tree root systems, it is an excellent undergrowth filler. In a free hedge, it can also be combined with smoke bushes and deciduous spindle-trees with superb autumn colours. This tin laurel can also be grown in large pots. As it tolerates repeated pruning, it can be used in topiary art and be sculpted into original shapes.