Small to medium-sized purple leaf trees for zone 9 FL (humid heat)

[Calosphace]

Looking for a purple leafed small to medium-sized tree (as in I would be keeping it around 15 feet max)

It will be a living stand for air plants I think they'll look stunning next to the dark foliage

So far I was thinking:

Loropetalum chinense, overly common but there is a new white-flowered dark leaf variety that intrigues me and I do not see them trained as multi trunk trees ever so I think it'd look different enough. It is also evergreen which would be better for the airplants

Prunus angustifolia x sp. 'Purple Pride' native parent, not sure if columnar growth suits my vision though and bark might be too flaky

Cercis 'Merlot' hybrid of Texas one and East Coast one, more heat tolerance than Forest Pansy

I'm thinking the Loropetalum as I know I can bonsai it and keep it in my large terracotta for an indefinite amount of time while I hopefully eventually get my own garden lol

Edited November 17 by Calosphace

[Merlyn]

I like the Cercis 'Merlot', but I generally prefer big leaves too.  I have no experience with bonsai or even growing trees in pots.  I wonder if that would grow in 9B central Floriduh?

The only other one I can think of is Photinia Glabra "Parsur" aka Red Dynamo.  It has red new leaves, but they fade to green.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Calosphace said:

Looking for a purple leafed small to medium-sized tree (as in I would be keeping it around 15 feet max)

It will be a living stand for air plants I think they'll look stunning next to the dark foliage

So far I was thinking:

Loropetalum chinense, overly common but there is a new white-flowered dark leaf variety that intrigues me and I do not see them trained as multi trunk trees ever so I think it'd look different enough. It is also evergreen which would be better for the airplants

Prunus angustifolia x sp. 'Purple Pride' native parent, not sure if columnar growth suits my vision though and bark might be too flaky

Cercis 'Merlot' hybrid of Texas one and East Coast one, more heat tolerance than Forest Pansy

I'm thinking the Loropetalum as I know I can bonsai it and keep it in my large terracotta for an indefinite amount of time while I hopefully eventually get my own garden lol

If you don't mind it going leafless for the winter ( ...and it can stand the heat + humidity there ) what about Cotinus?