Shrub identification

[regferk]

I would like some help identifying a shrub:

While we were at the Dallas Zoo, we took our daughter over to the Children's Zoo area and there was the most gorgeous shrub. It had small oval shaped blue-green leaves that were paired along arching branches. The leaves at the ends of the stems were starting to turn red (because of the fall change?) and at the tip if every stem was a pink flower that looked somewhat like a spider-lily. It was in partial shade/shade areas. Would anyone happen to know what this might be? I would love to get one if I could figure out what it is.

[sandih]

Sounds like Texas Sage or Cenzio...

Take a look at the link.

http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/54689/index.html

[regferk]

None of those look like it at all. The leaves were a very dark green, almost blue, on long arching branches paired on either side of the branch and the flowers were more "spidery".

[regferk]

In case anyone else was wondering also, it turns out to be a Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum chinense).

[sandih]

Chinese Fringe flower usually bloom in the spring I thought. When you said blue-green leaves I just thought of the Texas Sage.

[regferk]

I though they only bloomed in spring also, but that is deffinately what it was. When I started looking into I found that there are lots of different varieties and closely related plants. There was a gorgeous white blooming variety. It is also closely related to Witch-Hazel, which has the same kind of blooms (yellow) and blooms through the winter.

[Newt]

There is Chinese fringe flower - Loropetalum chinense which is related to witch hazel.
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Hamamelidaceae/Loropetalum_chinense.html

There is Chinese fringe tree - Chionanthus retusa
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/c/chiret/chiret1.html
http://www.botanic.jp/plants-ha/hitago.htm

Then there is Fringe tree - Chionanthus virginicus - an American native.
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/c/chivir/chivir1.html
http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/chionan.cfm

Newt