Purple Flowers or Flower Parts

The Blue Glory Vine produces 2-1/2" wide purple trumpets with yellow throats that are produced freely from spring to fall. A mounding and upright to spreading perennial to small (3-4'H) rambling climber, it is one of our favorite root hardy perennials for adding purple to a semi-shady area of the garden or in containers and it has excellent flower power. The Blue Glory Vine is happy in light shade to partial sun conditions but seems to prefer midday to afternoon shade in hot summer climates. It makes an easy container plant where not hardy. Item# 327

The large, 3-4'' wide, blue to lavender, Hibiscus-like flowers are produced throughout the warmer months of the year to year-round under warm frost free conditions. The Blue Hibiscus, Alyogyne huegelii, is an upright to rounded, naturally evergreen, Australian native shrub that is heat and sunloving and is somewhat drought resistant once well-established. It is fairly adaptable to soil types and moisture as long as they are provided with excellent drainage, otherwise it tends to be fairly short-lived. Full sun is optimal and it can be enjoyed both as a container plant as well as making a nice specimen or informal hedge in the garden and landscape. It is sometimes trained as a tree standard to good effect. Plants tend to be somewhat open and if foliage becomes too sparse or the plants too larger they can be pruned back fairly hard and will put out vigorous new growth and some sources suggest that it flowers best after a good pruning. Caterpillar host: Gray hairstreak. Item# 12881

Flat topped clusters of bluish-purple Ageratum-like flowers are born atop sturdy stems in summer and sometimes into fall. Blue Mistflower is a rhizomatous colonizing native perennial that may be best suited to naturalistic settings or among larger growing plants as a tall groundcover. Excellent for pollinators, particularly native bees. Item# 10458

Blue, indigo, to purple 1/4" wide flowers adorn the long spike-like flowering stems from spring to frost and are held above the rich green glossy foliage. Blue Porterweed, Stachytarpheta cayennensis, is an intermediate growing Porterweed and has a fairly dense upright to spreading habit. An excellent choice for butterfly gardens or as a container plant. Also known as Blue Snakeweed, Verbena Azul, Cayenne Snakeweed. For the Florida native Blue Porterweed see Stachytarpheta jamaicensis. Item# 13080

Clusters and chains of large 3" wide purple-blue trumpet shaped flowers with contrasting yellow throats are produced throughout much of the growing season and attract larger bees and butterflies as well as the occassional hummingbird. The Blue Sky Vine, Thunbergia grandiflora, is an exceptionally popular tropical vine that is easy, reliable, has excellent flower power and it can be grown as a die-back perennial in zones 8-9 if established early in the growing season (click the "More Details and Growing Info" link or the plant's image to learn more). It may remain evergreen in warm frost free tropical climates where it can flower nearly yearround. The Blue Sky Vine is a heat and sunloving twining vine suitable for metal fences, smaller arbors, and medium to large trellises or other sturdy supports. Provide a well-drained, moderately fertile soil. The Blue Sky Vine can also be enjoyed as an easy and low-maintenance container plant. Item# 1108.

Masses of 1" wide blue to violet blue daisies with a yellow eye seemingly cover up this perennial in late summer and fall providing nectar for pollinators including bees and migrating Monarchs. Bluebird Smooth Blue Aster, a selection of Symphyotrichum laeve (previously Aster laevis), was the top rated aster in trials at Mt. Cuba Center. It has a naturally upright to vase-shaped, clump-forming habit and grows to 3-4' at flowering but can be pinched in late spring or early summer to produce a fuller more compact plant. The Smooth Blue Aster is found throughout much of the US and into Canada. Provide a well-drained, average to semi-dry soil in full sun conditions for optimum vigor and flowering although it is tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions. In semi-shade it may require staking. Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 12247

The widely flaring deep blue-purple fan shaped flowers open from tubular buds, and are very reminiscent of Scaevola or Half-Flower, open singly and in clusters held at the growing tips as well as in the leaf axils attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The 5-lobed flowers of Blue-Lips, Sclerochiton harveyanus, are produced most heavily throughout the warmer months of the year. This is a shade tolerant naturally spreading to scandent (vine-like) evergreen tropical shrub with rounded, glossy deep green foliage. Blue-Lips is considered to be frost resistant but not freeze tolerant and it is easily maintained as a shrub form for containers, including hanging baskets, in and around larger growing shade-loving tropicals in the garden as well as on a shaded porch or patio. Provide it with an average moist, acidic to neutral, well-drained soil in a site that receives at least some cool morning sunlight or filtered sunlight for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12268

Unusual fuchsia colored flowers with exerted purple stamens and pistil are produced throughout the year attracting hummingbirds along with occasional butterflies. Brazilian Candles, Pavonia multiflora, is an exceptionally free flowering, naturally evergreen tropical shrub with an upright to vase shaped growth habit and glossy dark green textured foliage. Provide a well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. This rare tropical shrub is sure to be a conversation piece! Item # 544

New in 2022 and a breakthrough color! Dense spikes of dark wine purple pea-like flowers that are accented by a contrasting primrose yellow keel are held above the mound of deep green foliage. Flowers are produced in late spring to early summer and attract mainly bees. Burgundy Blast Baptisia or False Indigo, a hybrid cultivar of US native species (a.k.a. nativar), with good vigor and deep green foliage growing to about 3' x 3'. These are easy and low-maintenance, deer resistant, long-lived, taprooted perennials that produce more and more flowering spikes with each passing year with some plants producing over a 100 spikes on mature plants. Considered a must for the cutflower garden as the spikes have an excellent vase life. Provide Baptisias with a full to mostly sunny site in a soil with average or better drainage and moderate fertility. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12893

Large rounded to conical clusters of fragrant 1" wide purple flowers with a red-purple eye and with each petal brushed with 2 light strokes of bright contrasting white are produced beginning in summer and can continue into fall. The flowers of Phlox are butterfly pollinated but they may also attract larger bees and hummingbirds. Candy Store™ Grape Lollipop Garden Phlox is a clump forming selection of the native perennial Phlox paniculata with extra dark green disease resistant foliage that adorns the dark colored sturdy stems. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in well-drained, fertile soils for optimum vigor and flowering. Image courtesy of AG3, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12040

Dense 18-24" high spikes of large wine-purple, almost foxglove-like flowers with a striped white throat are produced beginning in late spring and can continue into fall if periodically deadheaded. The flowers attract bees, hummingbirds, and even butterflies. CHA CHA™ Purple Penstemon, a complex hybrid of native Penstemon species, is a clump forming perennial with glossy deep green narrow foliage selected for its denser flower spikes and more compact habit that lends it to use as a low maintenance container plant as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Photos courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 12857

Large 3" wide dark reddish-purple trumpet shaped flowers are borne throughout summer to year-round under warm tropical conditions adorn the vine-like stems of this tropical. Cherries Jubilee Allamanda, a selection of Allamanda blanchetii, is a naturally evergreen, scandent (a.k.a. vine-like) large arching to shrub to vine-like shrub that revels in the heat and sun of summer. The flowers may be visited by butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. It can be trained as an espalier, trellis, or even as a tree form and can be allowed to trail along fences and up arbors in freeze free climates. Cool winter temperatures and frosts may cause some leaf drop. Provide Cherries Jubiliee Alllamanda with a full to partly sunny site in an average moist but never soggy wet, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and continuous flowering. Where not hardy it is easily overwintered in a warm sunny window.  Item# 356

Up to 3/4" diameter, lightly fragrant, dense Sputnik-like flower clusters are composed of numerous small creamy white to light pink, funnel-shaped flowers that are tipped in purple often giving the flowers a lavender cast and the long white styles and creamy white stigmas provide the spikey look. The nectar rich flowers are produced throughout the warmer months of the year, late spring and often into fall, attracting an array of pollinators. The Chinese Buttonbush or Glossy Adina, Adina rubella, is a deciduous, medium to large, fine textured shrub with a naturally rounded to arching habit and a moderate rate of growth. The very dark green foliage has a mirror like glossiness and creates a contrasting foil for the flowers. Like our native Buttonbush, this plant is naturally found growing along wet areas but has no problems adapting to average moist, fertile garden soils in full sun to light shade. Item# 10035

Rounded clusters of medium purple tubular flowers are produced in late spring to early summer atop sturdy stems. The flowers attract hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Claire Grace Beebalm was selected not only for its long-lasting masses of darker purple flowers but also for its glossy green healthy foliage with good resistance to powdery mildew. This was one of the top 3 performing Monardas in trials that included over 40 cultivars at Mt. Cuba Center near Wilmington Delaware. Discovered in Mississippi by Barb and Michael Bridges of the now defunct Southern Perennials and Herbs and named for their daughter. Beebalm makes an easy and reliable addition to the garden and landscape as well as in naturalized areas. Provide a full to mostly sunny position in well-drained soils for optimum health and flowering. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 11946

Considered by many to be the best of the Mountain Mints, Clustered Mountain Mint produces an abundance of tiny whitish tubular blooms touched with purple or lavender in tight clusters held above the attractive bluish white bracts. The bracts are probably more showy than the flowers but the flowers attract loads of pollinators including bees and small butterflies. The foliage is wonderfully fragrant and can be used in teas and cooking. This is a durable and slowly spreading native perennial that flowers throughout the summer months. Item# 10029.

The large, glossy, dark green, tropical foliage of the Congo Fig, Dorstenia bahiensis, creates a beautiful rosette of foliage on a 2-4" high stem that will rarely exceed 12" high and about 18" wide making it the perfect little container plant. Unusual flattened maroonish 'flowers', technically hypanthodia, are produced basically year-round and are held on sturdy stalks and peak above the foliage of this easy and unusual indoor plant. The flower structures forcefully eject the ripened seeds a few feet from the mother plant. The cream to tan colored seeds require no pollination and are clones of the parent plant and so often come up in the pots of neighboring plants. The Congo Fig is quite tolerant of low to high indirect light and is forgiving when it comes to moisture levels but the plants seem to be happiest in a well-draining, average moist, fertile soil. Item# 10055