Joyweed Purple Splash

Joyweed 'Purple Splash' (Alternanthera 'Purple Splash') is a fast groundcover grown entirely for its leaves, which are splashed and streaked in purple and pink on a low mound about 30cm tall and 60cm across. It gives a bed colour without relying on a flowering season. Planted 30cm apart it closes into a continuous carpet within a season.

Why you'll love it

• Colour that does not depend on flowers. The purple and pink variegation carries the planting all year in a warm garden.
• It covers ground quickly. Fast growing and spreading to 60cm, so a bed fills in one warm season rather than three.
• Heat and humidity suit it. Humidity tolerant and heat tolerant, which makes it one of the easier colour plants for a wet subtropical summer.
• Low and well behaved. At 30cm high it edges a path or fronts a border without hiding what is planted behind it.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 30cm apart, which works out at about eleven plants per square metre. At that spacing the foliage meets and weeds are shaded out.

Borders and edging. Use it as a coloured ribbon along a path or in front of taller foliage plants, where the leaf pattern is close enough to read properly.

Pots and containers. It spills neatly over a rim and mixes well in a mixed planting, and a pot lets you move it under cover in cooler gardens.

Growing Joyweed in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the strongest purple; in part shade the leaves run greener and the plant stretches. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant. It is frost tender, so in cooler southern gardens either treat it as a summer annual or grow it in pots you can shift under cover.

Soil. A friable soil improved with compost, with drainage good enough that water does not sit after rain. Keep 50mm of mulch between the plants until they close over.

Water and feed. This is not a dry garden plant. Keep the soil evenly moist through the warm months, watering two or three times a week in hot weather. A light liquid feed monthly through spring and summer keeps the new growth coming, and the new growth is where the colour is.

Pruning. Shear it back by a third whenever it looks flat or leggy, at any point in the warm season. It reshoots quickly and the fresh leaves come back brighter than the ones you removed.

What to expect when it arrives

It is sold in one size, tube stock. These are small young plants, so a bed takes a warm season to close over, but they establish fast and tube stock is the sensible way to buy the numbers a mass planting needs.

Plant into warm soil rather than in the middle of winter, and expect it to start running four to six weeks after planting. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full groundcover range
• Choosing the right groundcover for a bed
• More plants with variegated foliage
• Plants suited to mass planting

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

About eleven at the recommended 30cm spacing. Wider spacing works but leaves gaps for weeds through the first season, and closer spacing wastes plants.

Will it survive frost?

No. It is frost tender and a hard frost will kill it outright. In cool temperate gardens it is best used as a summer bedding plant or kept in pots that move under cover.

Does it flower?

Barely. The flowers are tiny and papery and add nothing to the display. Buy this one for the foliage and treat any flowers as incidental.

Why has the purple faded to green?

Usually too little light. Move it into full sun, or shear the plant back so it produces fresh growth, since the colour is strongest on new leaves.