Explore 40 beautiful plants with purple flowers. Find the perfect purple blooms for your garden with our comprehensive guide on care and growing tips.
40 Plants With Purple Flowers:
Purple flowers add depth and elegance to garden color schemes, pairing with everything from whites and pastels to hot reds and orange flowers. Furthermore, purple’s striking hue attracts bees and other pollinators like bees and butterflies better than other colors such as red making these plants such as Foxgloves, Teasels, Globe Thistles, and Alliums great pollinator plants. So, let’s discover beautiful plants with purple flowers.
Create a memorable pot or border display by pairing purple flowers with the acid green hues of Alchemilla mollis or Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae; red poppies and orange kniphofias would also work well here.
1. Teasel:
The number 1 beautiful plants with purple flowers is (Dipsacus fullonum) is an evergreen biennial native to Britain that produces tall spikes of violet-hued brush-like flower heads that attract bees and butterflies, as well as goldfinches who feed off its seeds during winter. Ideal for planting at the back of borders or wild areas in gardens.
2. Hesperis Matrionalis:
Hesperis matrionalis, commonly known as Sweet Rocket, is an elegant biennial flowering in white or purple flowers with an intoxicating evening fragrance. This gorgeous biennial makes an attractive accent in sunny or partially shaded borders and cottage gardens as it blooms naturally over time. Seed should be planted in late spring where desired in sun or partial shade settings for best results.
3. Alliums:
Most ornamental alliums range in color from white to pink and purple, making them particularly popular with pollinating insects while adding interest to borders with their drumstick-shaped blooms.
4. Salvias:
Purple-flowered salvias such as Salvia ‘Amistad’ and ‘Ostfriesland’ make an eye-catching display when grown alongside other vibrant flowers such as kniphofias or rudbeckias in a mixed herbaceous border.
5. Catmint:
Catmints are fragrant perennials with attractive foliage that produce fragrant nectar-rich blooms each summer. There are various species available ranging from smaller bushy varieties suitable for pot culture to taller varieties best suited to growing in borders or the middle of borders, all thriving best when grown in full sun with light soil conditions that drain well.
6. Verbena Bonariensis:
Verbena bonariensis is an evergreen perennial garden plant beloved for its plate-shaped purple blooms which attract numerous pollinators, offering both height and long-term color in borders.
7. Clematis:
You can grow an abundance of plants with purple flowers called clematis varieties ranging from delicate mauve to dark, royal purple blooms. Clematis alpina makes an excellent spring flowering plant; for summer blooms try Clematis viticella varieties.
8. Wisteria:
Wisteria produces masses of purple flowers and is traditionally trained against houses or garden walls for display. Japanese varieties are less vigorous than their Chinese counterparts and feature longer blooms.
9. Lavender
Lavender has become a go-to garden staple due to its fragrant blooms, beautiful purple hue and easy care needs. Plus it attracts pollinators! For optimal success, grow lavender in full sunlight in well-drained soil.
10. Buddleia:
Buddleias are deciduous shrubs known for their flower-laden panicles. They attract pollinators such as butterflies. These blooming beauties thrive best on chalky and lime-rich soils and are one of the top picks for attracting butterflies.
11. Mountain Cornflower:
Mountain Cornflower (Centaurea montana) is native to mountain meadows and woodlands of continental Europe, typically growing with gray-green lance-shaped leaves that feature gray-green hues with deep blue or violet flowers that bloom early summer attracting pollinating bees.
12. Pulmonaria:
Pulmonaria spp. is commonly known by its mottled leaves that resemble lungs. Funnel-shaped flowers bloom with hues spanning blue, violet, pink, purple, red and white; making these blooms highly sought-after by bees such as Anthophora plumipes bumblebees.
13. Globe Thistles:
Globe thistles (Echinops spp.) make an attractive architectural feature in sunny borders. They boast their spiky leaves and bristly metallic blue blooms that stand out against their dark foliage.
14. Perennial Wallflower:
Perennial wallflowers like Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ are striking and floriferous perennial woody-stemmed flowers with large mauve flowers on tall spires for months on end in southern regions it even blooms all year round!
15. Hardy Geraniums:
Cranesbill or Hardy geraniums, perennial border plants featuring saucer-shaped flowers in shades of pink, purple and blue are easy to grow and thrive in shade gardens. blooming for several months, they make popular additions to cottage garden schemes while providing pollen and nectar sources to pollinators such as bees.
16. Jacaranda Mimosifolia:
This gorgeous tree showcases vibrant purple-blue blooms twice each year in late spring and autumn. It creates an eye-catching display in any landscape. Native to Bolivia and Argentina, Jacaranda mimosifolia requires minimum winter temperatures of 5 deg C for optimal performance. It may even be grown outdoors during warmer seasons before being taken inside for protection in winter! Boasting an elegant display!
17. Liriope Muscari:
Lilyturf (Liriope muscari) is an evergreen perennial with low-growing, grassy foliage and blue-purple spikes similar to grape hyacinths in autumn. Perfect as part of an herbaceous border or ground cover in partial to full shade environments.
18. Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’:
Scabiosa, also known as Field Scabious. It is an attractive native wildflower with purple pincushion-shaped blooms that attract pollinators like bees. Blooming from July to September. It makes an excellent addition to rock gardens or summer container displays!
19. Thalictrum Delavayi:
Thalictrum delavayi makes an elegant perennial with beautiful lilac-white blooms on purple stems that make an excellent cut flower. For optimal bloom, plant in moist soil in partial shade for best results.
20. Crocus:
Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus) bulbs make an elegant spring display in landscape or container gardens, boasting vibrant purple blooms with orange centers that attract pollinators pollen to your landscape or container garden. For optimal results, place in moist but well-drained soil in full sun.
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21. Grape Hyacinth:
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) bulbs are spring bloomers with stunning purple-blue blooms that bloom from February through May, making them the ideal front of the border, naturalized grass, or potted plant when grown in moist yet well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade conditions.
22. Verbena Rigida:
Slender vervain (Verbena rigida) is an evergreen perennial species with low growing habits that produce masses of purple flowers from summer through autumn. Perfect for growing in groups to soften borders or gravel gardens while wildlife gardens; use moist yet well-drained soil conditions when planting it.
23. Lupins:
Lupins are cottage-garden staples, known for their impressive spikes of pea-like flowers beloved by bees. Available in many hues including purple varieties such as The Governor and Masterpiece; grow them anywhere between full sun to partial shade in moist yet well-drained soil with protection from slugs and snails for optimal results.
24. Passion Flowers (Passiflora):
Passiflora caerulea is the most widely grown variety, boasting creamy-white blooms ringed with purple filaments around their central parts.
25. Agapanthus:
African Lilies (Agapanthus), known for their loose globe-shaped flower heads in shades of blue, purple, and white can make striking ornamental border plants as well as containers when grown in well-drained soil in full sun with good drainage. Some of their more striking varieties are Royal Velvet and Dark Silk varieties which provide dramatic effects in containers or mixed ornamental borders. They require well-drained soil in full sunlight for best results.
26. Foxgloves:
These perennial blooms, beloved fixtures of late spring and early summer cottage gardens, boast both pink-purple or white blooms; with some varieties such as Dalmation Purple having deeper-hued petals. Bell-shaped blossoms emerge on tall stems in May and June attracting pollinators such as bees.
27. Scorpionflower:
Scorpionflower (Phacelia tanacetifolia), often grown as green manure, is also an attractive flower in its own right that makes a stunning statement in mixed ornamental borders and cut arrangements. Pollinators especially bees love it! For optimal success grow scorpionflower in moist yet well-drained soil in full sunlight for best results.
28. Penstemon:
From summer through autumn, Penstemons produce beautiful foxglove-like blooms in various shades of pink, red, and blue that range from bright to pastel colors such as the “Sour Grapes” shown here, to “Pensham Plum Jerkum”. There are even plants with purple flowers like Sour Grapes or “Pensham Plum Jerkum”, to choose from! Their height also varies significantly; smaller varieties reach 20m high while taller varieties reach up to 1.5. For optimal results when growing penstemons indoors then full sun to partial shade should be preferred when exposed outdoors!
29. Hellebores:
Although hellebores come in various varieties, those with darker-flowered varieties such as Helleborus x hybridus typically produce darker blooms each year, including new varieties like Shades of Night being released each year. Easy and undemanding plants to care for, hellebores thrive best when placed in moist but well-drained soil in partial shade conditions.
30. Solanum Crispum:
The Chilean Potato Vine (Solanum crispum) is an evergreen climber with semi-perennial leaves, featuring yellow-lilac flowers with potato-shaped eyes that bloom year-round in UK gardens. Glasnevin variety being more hardy. Plant it in moist but well-drained soil conditions for best results.
31. Monarda:
Bergamot (Monarda didyma), with its large and extravagant flowerheads composed of shaggy domes of petals atop bracts (modified petals). Flowers come in many shades but the variety ‘On Parade’ stands out with magenta blooms that are especially beloved by bees. Grow Monarda ‘On Parade” in moist but well-drained soil in either full sunlight or partial shade for optimal success.
Asters provide a dazzling burst of late summer and autumn colors. Most varieties bloom purple while some also come in pink or deep red hues. Asters can be grown in any mixed herbaceous border that receives full sunlight to partial shade conditions for best results.
32. Hyacinths:
Hyacinths are fragrant spring bulbs and easy to cultivate. While traditionally known for their purple flowers, modern varieties now boast deep mauve, pink, and even white blooms – perfect for displays nearer your house! Grow them along garden borders for a show-stopping spring display, or use potted varieties indoors as fragrant accents of colour nearer home.
33. Lobelia ‘Hadspen Purple’:
Lobelias may be best known as bright blue bedding plants that spill out of containers and hanging baskets during summer, yet there are many types of lobelia with flowers in shades ranging from pink, white, and deepest purple to red and deeper hues such as ‘Hadspen Purple’ that add drama and interest to ornamental borders. For optimal growth conditions use moist but well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade conditions for maximum effect.
34. Aquilegia vulgaris ‘William Guiness’:
Aquilegias make an excellent transitional plant between spring bulbs and the main flush of summer perennials, offering colorful self-seeding blooms with white petals and deep purple sepals in Aquilegia ‘William Guinness’ producing white petals and deep purple sepals for full sun to partial shade conditions.
35. Bearded Irises (Iris Germanica):
are one of the most beloved varieties to cultivate, known for their sword-like foliage and beautiful blooms from May through June. Each blossom features large outer and inner petals referred to as ruffs and falls that create its showy blooms especially purple-flowered cultivars are particularly stunning! For optimal success, plant it in moist but well-drained soil in full sun, making sure that its rhizome sits above soil level so it gets enough light throughout its blooming cycle. This will ensure it flowers reliably.
36. Papaver Somniferum:
Papaver somniferum flowers Opium poppies (Papaver somniferum) are annuals that produce hairy blue-green foliage with fragrant purple, red, pink, and white blooms that bloom throughout summer or partial shade conditions. Ideal conditions are well-drained soil in sun to partial shade areas with moisture levels between 60-84% or save seeds to sow next spring yourself. They often self-seed themselves for easy sowing!
37. Viola Odorata:
Viola odorata, commonly known as the sweet violet, is a low-growing perennial wildflower with tiny, sweetly fragrant blooms over semi-evergreen foliage. Optimally grown in light shade conditions and making an excellent groundcover choice in woodland gardens or beneath shrubs.
38. Cleome:
Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower) is an annual with fragrant, spidery flower heads in white, pink, and purple-pink tones. To enjoy maximum impact from this vibrant annual, grow it in moist but well-drained soil with full sun to partial shade for best results; varieties ‘Senorita Rosalita’ and Violet Queen produce particularly beautiful purple blooms.
39. Cobaea Scandens:
Cobaea Scandens is a tropical American perennial vine. In the UK it can be grown outdoors during the summer and overwintered if moved indoors to temperatures no lower than 7C for overwintering purposes. But for best results, it should be grown as an annual and trained along walls, fences, or pergolas to grow vertically up the wall or fence. Cobaea scandens flowers measure 8 cm long with fragrant stamens that stand out beautifully against its dark background; grow them in moist but well-drained soil in full sun or potted peat-free compost for best results; deadhead spent blooms to prolong flowering just like Lathyrus odoratus ‘Almost Black’.
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40. Sweet Pea Lathyrus Odoratus ‘Almost Black’
While sweet peas come in different hues, purple-flowered varieties offer something truly luxurious. Consider growing varieties such as Lathyrus Odoratus ‘Almost Black”, Pluto, and Noel Sutton when planting sweet peas for full sun to partial shade growing conditions.