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        • Buchanan’s Native Plants has been serving Houston gardeners since 1986. Located in the historic Houston Heights, the garden center is dedicated to native plants and organic gardening.  You will find the best selections of hardy natives as well as perennials, herbs, vegetables, trees, shrubs & roses — all suited to the Houston climate.

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Home » Plant Library » Annuals » Purple Knight Alternanthera
Purple Knight Alternanthera | Alternanthera dentata 'Purple Knight'

Purple Knight Alternanthera

Botanical name: Alternanthera dentata ‘Purple Knight’

This showy, heat loving ground cover plant is perfect as a landscape edging plant, and is great for basing containers, tolerates partial shade, but most vivid color is produced in full sun.

Other names: Calico Plant, Joy Weed, Parrot Leaf

  • Characteristics
  • Features and Attributes
  • Planting and Growing

Characteristics

Hardiness zone
Flower color white
Foliage type evergreen
Plant form spreading
Mature height 12 inches
Spread 12 inches
Light requirements

full sun to partial shade

Moisture requirements

average to moist

Plant origin import

Ornamental Features

Purple Knight Alternanthera's attractive pointy leaves emerge olive green in spring, turning deep purple in color the rest of the year. Neither the flowers nor the fruit are ornamentally significant.

Landscape Attributes

Purple Knight Alternanthera is a dense herbaceous annual with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Purple Knight Alternanthera is recommended for the following landscape applications;

Mass Planting, Border Edging, General Garden Use, Groundcover, Container Planting

Planting and Growing

Purple Knight Alternanthera will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Purple Knight Alternanthera is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

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Buchanan’s Native Plants
611 East 11th Street
Houston, Texas 77008

713-861-5702

Hours: 9 am – 6 pm
Open Every Day – Monday – Sunday

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