Top 10 Plants for a Purple Garden

If you like the color purple, then you'll love the beauties in this Top 10. Plant this mix of annuals and perennials to bring intensity and majesty to your displays.

Photo: Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com

Bugleweed

This fast-spreading, evergreen perennial makes an excellent groundcover with its masses of green, bronze, or variegated foliage. Spires of purplish blue flowers appear in late spring to early summer. One note of warning, though, bugleweed may invade lawns, making it more suitable for areas surrounded by stones or other barriers.

• Common Names: Bugleweed.
• Botanical Name: Ajuga reptans.
• Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer.
• Size: 4 to 8 inches high, 8 inches wide.
• Flowers: Purplish blue.
• Light Needs: Full to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Plant closely so it forms a dense, weed-suppressing mat.
• Prize Picks: Its multicolored foliage transcends the average dark green with its pink and cream accents.

Photo: Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com

Butterfly bush

Though its exuberant profile can be fairly informal, this plant is a staple in many hummingbird gardens. The blooms also easily attract birds and butterflies with their arching branches of vibrant flower clusters.

While it may seem like hummingbirds flock to the blooms for the sweet fragrance, it's actually the plant's nectar that makes it so attractive to the birds.

• Common Names: Butterfly bush, summer lilac.
• Botanical Name: Buddleja davidii.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer through first frost.
• Size: 5 to 15 feet high.
• Flowers: Tubular blooms of purple, white, pink or yellow.
• Light Needs: Full sun or light shade.
• Growing Advice: Should be planted in spring before rapid growth begins, spaced 4 to 5 feet apart. May be cut low in late fall or early spring; new growth will generate and bloom as summer progresses.
• Prize Picks: Black Knight is a favorite source of rich purple color. Royal Red's dark red-purple flowers grow on panicles up to 20 inches long.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Clematis

You say "clem-aye-tis," I say "clem-aah-tis." It really doesn't matter how you pronounce it, one word best describes this vine-dazzling!

Clematis grows up more than out, which means you get more flowers in less yard space. And they're actually easy to grow and train, which makes them perfect for decorating a mailbox, lamppost, arbor or trellis.

• Common Names: Clematis.
• Botanical Name: Clematis.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: 4 to 30 feet high, 3 feet wide.
• Flowers: Dozens of colors including white, pink, red, purple, blue, and yellow. Some have multicolored blooms.
• Light needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Buy container-grown plants at the nursery. Provide the cooling shade the roots require with mulch or surround with sun-tolerant groundcover plants. Grow on a trellis or other structure to support its twining tendrils.
• Prize Picks: Jackmanii produces beautiful purple blooms. The President has deep violet blooms with dark purple stamens-spectacular.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Crocus

Crocuses often start peeking through the soil when snow is still in the forecast, providing a welcome shot of color when few other flowers are in bloom.

With cup-shaped flowers atop stout stems, crocuses make a lovely addition for the front of a flowerbed or border. They require little care to produce year after year.

• Common Names: Crocus.
• Botanical Name: Crocus.
• Hardiness: Zones 3 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Early spring.
• Size: 2 to 5 inches high, 4 inches wide.
• Flowers: Cup-shaped blooms of purple, white, yellow and striped.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: For spring bloomers, plant corms 3 to 4 inches deep in fall. Autumn varieties should be planted in summer.
• Prize Picks: Pickwick produces striped lilac blooms, Remembrance is a shiny violet variety and Yellow Mammoth has bright-golden flowers. In the South, try snow crocus (Crocus chrysanthus), which unfurls small, sweetly scented blooms and doesn't require a winter cooling period.

Photo: Terra Nova Nurseries, www.terranovanurseries.com

Coral bells

Striking, often colorful foliage, dainty flowers, and an adaptable nature make coral bells a sure winner for just about any yard.

• Common Names: Coral bells, Heuchera.
• Botanical Name: Heuchera.
• Hardiness:
• Bloom Time: Varies by cultivar, but most coral bells typically bloom from late spring into early summer.
• Size: 8 inches to 3 feet high, 12 to 24 inches wide.
• Flowers: Bell-like blooms in purple, red, black, silver, amber, orange, and bronze.
• Light needs: Partial shade to full sun.
• Growing Advice: Plant in early spring, choosing soil that's moist, rich and well draining.
• Prize Picks: Plum Pudding sports both attractive foliage and flowers. Purple Petticoats has ruffled foliage.

Photo: Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com

Hydrangea

Hydrangeas often conjure up memories of Grandma's garden. These showy shrubs have long been a favorite of gardeners looking for an easy-care plant that flowers even in partial shade.

• Common Names: Hydrangea.
• Botanical Name: Hydrangea.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 9, varies slightly by species.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: 6 to 22 feet high, 8 feet wide.
• Flower: Shades of pink white and purplish-blue flowers, either large pompons or flattened clusters of blooms.
• Light Needs: Partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Place in holes the same depth as the rootball, but wider. New plantings need plenty of water to get established.
• Prize Picks: Bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) are perfect for mild climates, but usually won't flower in regions with cold winters. In these areas try cultivars of smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), which produce huge spheres of densely packed white blooms.

Photo: Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com

Lavender

Gardeners know that there's never a dull moment with lavender's lovely and fragrant blooms.

Lavender has stiff gray-green leaves on mounding plants that are often taller than they are wide. The hauntingly fragrant flower spikes come in various shades of purple as well as plain white and attract many butterflies, especially skippers, painted ladies, and sulphurs.

• Common Names: Lavender.
• Botanical Name: Lavandula.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 10.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: 1 to 4 feet high, 1 to 4 feet wide.
• Flowers: Pinkish purple.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before last spring frost, or outdoors after danger of frost passes.
• Prize Picks: For showy purple stalks of flowers, choose Hidcote, Sarah or Munstead.

Photo: RDA GID

Pansy

It's hard not to smile when there's a patch of pansies in your backyard. These colorful flowers are best known for the "whiskered faces" that mark many of the blooms. The pattern makes it appear as if the flowers are grinning.

Pansies are part of the large flower family that includes violets and Johnny-jump-ups. They emerged in the early 1800s as the result of crossbreeding four different viola varieties to create the trademark "face."

The plants produce a wide variety of brightly colored flowers surrounded by bushy leaves. Most are annuals, although some are biennials or short-lived perennials.

• Common Names: Pansy.
• Botanical Name: Viola x wittrockiana.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Varies by cultivar. Most types perform best in the cooler weather of spring or autumn. In warmer climates, some varieties can be used as winter annuals.
• Size: 6 to 9 inches high and 9 to 12 inches wide.
• Flowers: Purple, white, yellow, orange, and red. Bi-colored flowers with a face-like pattern are the most common; shape is five overlapping petals, some with ruffled edges.
• Light needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Plant transplants in early spring. To grow from seed, plant indoors in January or February in northern climates. In warmer areas, plant in late summer for blooms the following spring.
• Prize Picks: Imperial, Maxim, Springtime, and Universal are heat-tolerant choices, while Icicle and Second Season tolerate cold.

Photo: RDA GID

Petunia

It's no wonder petunias are one of the most popular garden flowers-they come in a dazzling array of colors, shapes, and sizes, are easy to grow and tolerate all sorts of weather and soil conditions.

Intense hybridizing has led to the plethora of petunias available today, and there are more varieties being developed each year. To keep things in order, petunias are divided into several categories-multiflora, grandiflora, floribunda, milliflora and spreading, notably the popular, award-winning Wave petunias.

• Common Names: Petunia.
• Botanical Name: Petunia x hybrida.
• Hardiness: Annual.
• Bloom Time: Late spring to frost.
• Size: 4 to 24 inches high, 12 to 36 inches wide.
• Flowers: Mainly pink, red, pale yellow, violet-blue, white, or multicolor funnel-shaped single and double flowers.
• Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Common bedding plants. If growing from seed, sow 10 to 12 weeks before the typical last-frost date in your area. Plant seedlings about 6 to 12 inches apart. Spreading varieties such as Wave should be placed 18 to 24 inches apart.
• Prize Picks: The compact and spreading Carpet series makes a colorful groundcover. The Wave series offers appealing variations on the color purple, including Lavender Wave, Purple Wave and Misty Lilac Wave.

Photo: RDA GID

Salvia

Want your summer gardens to kick off with a bang and end with a grand finale? Then plant purple salvia, a beauty that'll light up your yard all summer.

There are few garden flowers as bold or reliable as these brilliant spikes. Many gardeners know the plant for its red blooms (which has earned it the name firecracker plant), but the purple can be a great addition to the garden. They stand at attention in a large border garden and are just as striking when confined to containers. And they provide the perfect color for your purple garden masterpiece.

• Common Names: Salvia, firecracker plant.
• Botanical Name: Salvia splendens.
• Hardiness: Grown as an annual in all zones.
• Size: 8 to 30 inches high, 8 to 12 inches wide.
• Flowers: Bright spiky clusters of tubular flowers. While typically red, some cultivars are available in orange, white, pink, lavender or blue.
• Light Needs: Full sun. Where summers are hot, they'll do best in partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Sold as bedding plants. Plant at the same level as growing in containers and pinch tops to encourage branching. Mulch to retain moisture and keep soil cool.
• Prize Picks: The Sizzler and Salsa series bloom in an interesting palette of colors, including excellent lavender and blue choices.