No pricklies though, not too crazy about plants which will stick me :)

sempervivum "Commander Hay." (Lol... not too large!)
Sempevivum "Bellot's Pourpre."
Ficus elastica "burgundy." (Ok, they may get large eventually but you can buy them small.)
Dracaena "Magenta." (not oval.)
Caladiums (Not oval.)
Aeonium Arboreum "Atropurpureum" or "Schwartzkopf."
Echeveria "Painted Lady."
Hawthoria coarctata v. adelaidensis (Definitely not oval. Is that too prickly?)

I haven't got one yet; I'm trying not to overdo it on the shrubs all at once as I learn about how best to overwinter them in my zone. But I've been really tempted.

Zabby, who realizes one of those latin names already mentioned may BE a barberry for all she know; how embarrassing

Another love is sedums. Sedum spurium Dragon's Blood has reddish foliage and blood red flowers later on.... There's also Japanese maples. I suppose neither of those are really what you're looking for... lol.

I'll research the options here and find the most inexpensive choice. :)

Quite a few succulents exhibit red, bronze, brass, brown, or interesting shades inbetween each of these when exposed year round to sun.

I'll have my name tag on but will be working the show hall with the judges till 1pm tomorrow. Then I will comb the sales area for plants that I crave. Sunday, I will only be there to pick up my exhibit plants after 4pm.

As for red-leaved plants, what about coleus? Certain ornamental grasses? Some begonias? Oxalis triangularis (not oval)? Aren't there some cannas with reddish foliage?

Thanks for reminding me about begonias too. I am hunting for my "Brandy" wax begonias (all of the "Cocktail" series have red leaves):

Have an overwintered pot of "Gin" outside now.

Another I thought of was a burgandy-colored castor bean that I recall seeing on HGTV a couple years ago. In fact, the show I saw was about a garden that used almost nothing but the darker foliage plants, interspersed with a few silvers or whites. The owner had purposely sought that type of plant.

Zabby

Ok, I just committed a crime on your behalf. I was at Loblaws (big grocery store with garden centre), checking to see if stuff had started to go on sale yet, and saw a shrub with oval, red-purple leaves. Purpler than the barberries it was next to, but it had no spikes, I checked. It was REALLLY pretty. I had more errands to do before coming home, and was afraid I wouldn't remember the info about it correctly, so I stole the tag off one of them. I hope I can use the Internet from my prison cell...

It's a "royal purple smoke tree," or "cotinus coggygria royal purple." The tag says to grow in full sun; that the hardiness zones are 5 to 9; that it's known "for the 'smoke' that developes during flowering and shrouds the plant in dense, cloudy puffs"; and that it costs $24.99 Cdn (about $18 U.S.)

It was a lovely little shrub in a one- or two-gallon pot, about a foot high and spreading not quite that wide; the tag says second year. But it also says it really is a tree, not a shrub --- will grow to 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Now, we all know Aunt Jenny says anything can be grown in a container, but this might need to be SOME container!

Anyway, there may be some other obvious reason, besides the 15 feet thing, why it's totally unsuitable, but it looked like it might fit your bill so I thought I'd pass it on. It sure was pretty. I tried to find a photo on the Web but all the smoke trees I found were other colours; oh well.

Cheers,

Zabby

To grow up and look like this?

Very nice - and definitely a BIG container!

PV

I bow to your superior research skills....

Thanks,

Zabby

And I think after all the $$ I have spent at the Loblaws garden centre this season, they can spare me a paper tag for a good cause...

Zabby

And yes, anything can be grown in a container. It's a matter of right-sizing and pruning. ;-)

(Boy, that'd be some screen from the guy next door, huh? LOL)

Zabby

Actually, if I didn't have a roof over the balcony, I'd probably have some sort of tree like that. But alas, many trees do best with some sort of overhead sun.

victrola - sorry to hear about the sand cherry. I have had my share of winter or spring casualties this year - mostly due to overwatering in a time when overcast, cool, and/or rainy seems to be the trend for this year. I always see those sand cherries for sale at a number of places here every year but manage to resist.

I know there are other red-foliaged shrubs, including those having red new growth (a few of which that I have - pieris "Valley Rose", "Wine and Roses" weigela, leucothoe "Girard's Rainbow"), but I'm not sure how they would do in a desert climate... However, there is something that should do well and that's one of the red-leafed ficus elasticas that they sell so much of over here. Particularly the one that WP mentioned. I know you're looking for leaves that aren't "too large" but a good ole ficus would still be cool. :-P

A smaller guy might include that ubiquitous sweet potato vine "Blackie".