Maybe you should take a trip to Ames Iowa. The Remain Gardens have some nice full grown shrubs of about every variety. They are also a zone 5. If there is an arboretum near you, they may have different plants also.

Fine Gardening has a list of shrubs and their design attributes at the link below. Maybe it will spark some ideas for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Well Placed Shrubs

I can't think of any purple leaved shrubs with that growth habit - other than barberry which can be pruned to shape. Pruning a weigelia will affect how it blooms.

You could try holly. Nice deep green folliage with red berries in the fall. Light pruning should keep it shaped up. You need a male and female plant if you want berries and make sure it is hardy in your area.

I don't know much about pruning - I pretty much let my shrubs go natural. Could by my lazy gardener gene. Let us know what you finally decide on.

Cricket

We do keep stopping and looking at the hollys we see, but I think we may have settled on a purple-leafed sand cherry. Does anyone here have an experience with them?

Marilou, thanks for the link, that looks like good stuff. I'll read it throughly later tonight.

All I know about the purple-leafed sand cherry is through my neighbor's plant. Keeping that in mind... It can get very large, but will survive severe prunning (he cut it all to the ground one year). It blooms sparsely, but the blooms smell nice. It keeps the burgundy color all summer.

-Pam

I'm replacing some Barberi with Purple leaf sand cherry.I forget what yor space requirements are,but they can be cut to the ground in the spring. The rabbits do a good job of this! We have one we yanked out & put a butterfly bush in its place & there are purple shoots coming up around the base! Doris