Known as ‘Purple Ninebark’, this medium height, upright shrub is tougher than the delicate looking foliage appears. Haling from eastern North America, it is so-called for its bark, which peels off in thin papery strips, resembling the number ‘9’. ‘Shady Lady’ is a NZ selection, with deep burgundy to mahogany foliage on red stems. Foliage colour intensifies to rich red in autumn, before leaf fall. New spring growth is simply stunning and further accentuated as masses of round heads of tiny cream flowers appear over late spring to early summer. Lovely cut foliage plant and colour accent or filler in shaded areas. Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions from moist to dry, extremely cold hardy and drought tolerant. Deciduous.