In the battle of Jack Frost vs Purple Hopseed bushes, Jack wins. The plants may come back from their roots, but not until the weather warms – so goodbye purple winter screen plant. If you’re in a borderline area where this happens a lot, it’s time to consider a different plant, especially if these were hiding something really hideous.
In the battle of Jack Frost vs Purple Hopseed bushes, Jack wins. The plants will supposedly come back from their roots, especially if they’re well established before the frost. They certainly won’t look good in the meantime. They’re supposed to be hardy down to 16°F, so either this garden got colder or some plants aren’t as cold resistant as others.
Nurseries sell many plants that won’t survive our chilly winters or our long, hot summers. Just because a plant is for sale at your local nursery or garden center does not mean it will survive where you live. Always check a plant’s hardiness and heat tolerance before you buy, and keep in mind that if a plant is borderline it might not enjoy a long happy life in your garden.
plants looked fine during frost, but browned out later 
Established plants heavily frost damaged. Owner is looking for a replacement.
These shrubs are popular because they’re evergreen, upright and purplish. Except when frost hits, turning them into brown towers of dead leaves. The damage does not show up immediately – it takes time for the frozen leaves to transform from vibrant purplish to dead brown. You might check the plants after that 15°F chill and think they’re fine, only to see them go completely brown over time.
If you’re lucky, the plants were only killed to the ground and will regrow in time. If not, time to choose something else that won’t self-destruct when the temps get chilly.
There’s no real substitute plant for frosty areas – the combination of evergreen purple leaves, frost tolerance and upright habit does not seem to come with hardiness. There are other narrow, tall things – hedge bamboo, bay laurel, sky pencil holly… but they’re not purple, and might need some shearing to keep them properly vertical and columnar. There are hardy purple-leafed things, but they’re not evergreen.
So, there’s no choice: either bet on several frost-free years and plant your hopseed bushes or decide that you’ll get purple leaves another way – berberis, fringe flower, purple smoke tree…
Alternate plants
You want to replace your Purple hopseed bush (a.k.a. frozen mess, Dodonaea viscosa ‘Purpurea’)? Here are some options
Other purple things – all deciduous, but quite purple and cold hardy
Orange Rocket Barberry (more flame than purple, really)
Berberis thunbergii ‘Orange Rocket’
Ever Red Fringe Flower
Loropetalum chinense ‘Chang Nian Hong’
Grace Smoke Tree (and others)
Cotinus x ‘Grace’
Purple Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolious ‘Seaward’ (likes water)
Other upright things
Bissett Bamboo (a runner, needs containment to limit invasiveness)
Phyllostachys bissetti
Sky Pencil Japanese Holly
Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’
Sweet Bay / Bay Laurel (low water once established)
Laurus nobilis
Green Spire Euonymus Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’. Green, columnar and not at all purple. Looks a lot like Sky Pencil, but might grow faster.
Hi Mike, thanks for your article about hopseed bush. I read it after buying one this weekend. Now I’m thinking about keeping it in a container and continuing my search for a shrub or small tree to use as a summer heat shield.
It might be fine for years – it’s more a question of when you’ll get a cold snap severe enough to kill the plant to the ground. The plants in the photo had time to grow quite tall before severe frosts cut them down – or you can use more frost resistant plants and avoid the problem.