Such a good good plant. The purple-foliaged New Zealand Burr covers the ground in pinnate dark purple foliage. Low spreading evergreen ground cover for full sun to part shade in rich, well drained, moisture retentive soils. Avoid compacted dry soils- it will die out. Instead provide an annual mulch of compost- put it right over the leaves and let the foliage grow up through it. This will give you a dense spectacular ground cover of purple with blue tints. Excellent as an understory in containers as well. In summer sporadic 4″ stems support spiky maroon orbs- these are the flowers. Best as a small scale ground cover, 3’x 3′ is reasonable. It will flow around low shrubs such as Hebes and around paving stones. Regular water. New Zealand.
Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’
Family: Rosaceae Genus: Acaena
Plant type: Ground cover, Herbaceous perennial
Biomes/Growing conditions: Mesic, Oregon Coast
Sun exposure: Full Sun, Part Shade
USDA Hardiness zone: Zn6b 0º to -5ºF
Foliage color: Purple/Black
Foliage season: Evergreen