Purple Wintercreeper Euonymus (Euonymus fortunei 'Coloratus')
yew-ON-ih-mus for-TOON-ee-eye 'Coloratus'

Deciduous Perennial Spreading in the Celastraceae Family
 
 
Available May 7
Size Notes Price Availability
#1 gallon Field $9.72
24 FLAT Field $37.20
Available May 14
Size Notes Price Availability
#1 gallon Field $9.72
24 FLAT Field $37.20
 
Discover Purple Wintercreeper Euonymus, an ornamental fruit-producing groundcover that thrives in various conditions. Watch as its foliage transforms into a stunning purple hue in the fall, adding vibrant color to your landscape!

Commonly called Winter Creeper for good reason! This vine will grow anywhere you want it and some places you don’t. Its unique ability to shapeshift from vine to groundcover to bush makes it an excellent choice for stone walls, trellises, foundations, or other areas that look nice when covered with a “cascading effect” of evergreen Euonymus foliage. However, buyer beware: we do mean covered. This plant is an ambitious grower and will take over just about everything if you let it!

This plant comes in green/pink, white/green, green/yellow, several green and gold single tones, and two-tone green shades. It’s quite stunning when kept in check and extremely un-picky about growing conditions, so it’s a reliable and hardy choice for year-round color.

Pros

  • Super tough groundcover, shrub, or vine
  • Thrives in full sun to full shade
  • Not picky about soil quality or moisture levels

Cons

  • Extremely invasive
  • Plants in the Euonymus genus are toxic to dogs if they eat enough of it
  • Susceptible to Euonymus Scale, an insect that will also attack pachysandra, bittersweet, and privet shrubs and causes leaf and branch dieback
 

Plant Data

Mature Size 8 - 12 inches tall. 12 - 18 inches wide.
Sun Exposure Partial Shade - Full Sun
Moisture Tolerance Medium
Zones 5a - 9b (Usually hardy to -20° F)
Tags Deciduous, Formal Garden, Foundation, Full Sun, Groundcover, Medium, Most Popular, Native to Asia, Normal Soil, Partial Shade, Partial Sun, Perennial, Shade Tolerant, Tolerant of Loamy Soil, Tolerant of Sandy Soil, Well-Drained Soil
Foliage Color
 

More Info from Experts

Photos of This with...

Japanese Painted Fern, Helmond Pillar Japanese Barberry, Golden Mop Japanese Falsecypress, Brilliance Japanese Shield Fern, Dolce Wildberry Coralbells, Annabelle Hydrangea, Variegated Lily Turf, Fire Chief Arborvitae,
 
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Pricing and Availability History

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Past Availability
2025 : 04/03 - 10/04
2024 : 05/01 - 10/05
2023 : 04/13 - 09/30

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Limited Availability

We try very hard to source exactly what you’d like, but sometimes growers run out of plants! While this variety is a great deal at the price shown, we know that it has limited availability. If you want the plant even if it might be more expensive, or in a different size or quantity -- after you place your order, just send us a quick note at help@northshoreplantclub.com. Then, we’ll try to get you some version of this from one of our growers. And if we can’t get it from anywhere, of course, we’ll send a refund!


Field-Grown vs. Greenhouse-Grown Plants

Plants which are well-adapted to our local climate are most often field-grown (outside). Field-grown plants are generally cheaper and have the advantage of already somewhat acclimated to our cold winters, but that means they’re not artificially far along in the spring and tend to bloom at the normal time in our area.

Spring annuals and tender perennials are typically grown in Greenhouses so they can be ready and luxurious exactly when customers want them. Some perennials are also “forced” into early bloom in greenhouses. In May, there can be a very big difference between field-grown and greenhouse-grown plants of the same type. The latter typically look good right away (so they’re a great choice where that’s important), but we typically pay a premium for it.


Estimated Recipe Cost

The cost of this recipe's ingredients will vary depending on the season and the sizes and varieties you select.


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No Pricing or Availability Right Now

We order from a rotating cast of the best nurseries in the Great Lakes region. It looks like we've offered this plant in the past, but the nurseries we're working with this week don't appear to have it in stock at the moment.

Our goal is to bring as many plants together under "one roof" as possible, so we'll try hard to make it available again in the future!