Just close your eyes for a moment and picture some of the many other colours that would set off these purples to advantage - yellow, pink, white, orange, selected reds and other purples in flower colour, not to mention the grey, silver, silvery-grey or the many green shades of foliage.

* Watch for the animated hummingbird and butterfly with the plants that attract them. *
The deer icon indicates plants that deer are not usually attracted to.

The best time and method to propagate plants can be found on our image-intensive PROPAGATION page.

To help your plants grow their best, check out our FERTILIZATION page.

To create your own plant partnerships based on tried and true color theory, check out our GARDEN COLOR page.

To see if a particular plant is on this page press Ctrl+F, type in the name, then click the Find button.

ACONITUM

Lucky indeed is the gardener fortunate enough to have room to grow a large patch of these dark beauties. Although they are available in forms having blooms of pink or yellow, most have hooded flowers in the blue to purple range. Keep them in the rear of your borders, far away from young children or pets who might be tempted to eat their highly poisonous blooms.

Aconitum:  violet forms

in front of:  Filipendula rubra 'Venusta'

behind:  Phlox paniculata (white) with three Hemerocallis, one yellow, one peach and one light orange, in front of all
beside:  Monarda (red)

behind:  Phlox paniculata (white)

with:  Cimicifuga 'White Pearl'
near:  Anemone x hybrida

ASTER

What better way to obtain bloom from early in the season to latest fall than with various members of the genus, Aster. The ultimate daisy - these range from the small and early Aster alpinus to the extremely tall and later-blooming New England and New York forms. The purplish tones range from violet-blue, powder blue, pale blue, lavender-blue, lilac, royal purple to deepest purple. They are also available in salmon-pink, pink, white, cerise, rose-pink, ruby red, sky-blue and nearly pure blue. Most asters have a yellow or gold center, although a few have a reddish one.

Aster alpinus:  purple forms

in front of:  Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis'
beside:  Aster x frikartii (which will later provide a contrast to the same A. ludoviciana 'V. Finnis')

beside:  Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

where:  back of border
with:  Ornamental Grasses

AUBRIETA

For earliest spring color, what can compete with the wonderful purple tones of Rock Cress? Spilling over rock edges or walls, or carpeting a patch of sloping ground, these beauties are wonderful in themselves, but set off all those early-blooming spring perennials and bulbs to perfection. A quick haircut after their bloom has finished will freshen up the evergreen foliage and keep it looking good into fall and winter, when it often produces more sporadic bloom.

Aubrieta deltoidea:  Rock Cress

co-blooms with lovely pink Phlox subulata as seen above
excellent for:  rock walls, spilling over rock ledges
also good with:  species bulbs

CAMPANULA

Is there any group of perennials that produces more blooms than the variable genus, Campanula? If there is I haven’t found it yet. As anyone knows who has tried to count the spent blooms as they are being dead-headed, it is not unusual to reach numbers in the hundreds. When you tire of this calculation (you’ll probably only do it once or twice), you can reach for the shears and give the plant a quick, overall haircut back to below the blossoms and it won’t be long before another flush of flowers follows. Most forms are more subtle than they are big or blowsy, but to soften a grouping of plants in the garden, they have no equal.

Campanula:  Bellflower, low varieties

with:  Coreopsis verticillata, Iris sibirica, Astilbe, Geranium, Dianthus, Aquilegia
in shade with:  Hosta & ferns

with:  Rosa (pink), Sedum 'Ruby Glow', Geranium psilostemon (a magenta eye-stopper)
mid-bed with:  Gypsophila paniculata, Digitalis, Iris sibirica

note:  attracts hummingbirds
where:  small crevices in rock gardens or walls, tubs, containers, in morning sun
with:  blue Festuca or other small ornamental grasses
with:  Coreopsis verticillata, especially ‘Moonbeam’
under:  Lilium (Oriental or Asiatic)
with:  Alcea rosea (hollyhock), Delphinium (Larkspur), Digitalis purpurea, hardy Geranium, Hemerocallis
with:  Iris sibirica, Phlox subulata, Phlox paniculata
in light shade with:  Alchemilla mollis, Astilbe, Heuchera

where:  rock gardens, border edging plant
beside:  Heuchera sanguinea, Oenothera missouriensis
between:  Hosta sieboldiana 'Elegans' & Heuchera sanguinea
between:  Veronica & Hosta plantaginea

over:  Crocus
under:  wine-red lilies
between:  Heuchera sanguinea & Salvia 'East Friesland'
offset behind:  Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'

with:  ferns, orangish-apricot tones i.e. Lychnis hybrids

seen above with:  silvery Artemisia 'Valerie Finnis' and yellow Achillea 'Moonshine'
where:  in borders, shaded gardens
with:  clashing but good combination for hardy Geranium (magenta), Iris sibirica, Doronicum orientale, ferns
behind:  Dianthus (pink shades)

Note:  these can also be white, blue or pink
with:  Aruncus dioicus, Achillea, Gypsophila paniculata

with:  shrub roses
beside:  Thalictrum aquilegiafolium

with:  Aruncus dioicus, Achillea, Gypsophila paniculata

where:  mid-border, with fine-textured plants, in drifts along stone wall or fence
behind:  Geranium sanguineum
in front of:  Delphinium

in light shade with:  Digitalis
in sun wedged between:  Alchemilla mollis (in front) & old roses (behind)

with:  Achillea, Lupinus, Papaver orientale, Perovskia atriplicifolia

with:  Campanula persicifolia (white forms)
combined with:  Campanula persicifolia 'Grandiflora Alba', Digitalis ambigua, & Allium moly

over:  Crocus chrysanthus, Crocus spp, Galanthus nivalis
with:  yellow-leaved Hosta
with:  drifts of Ajuga, Hosta, Vinca & other ground covers

where:  part shade or full sun, sprawling over rocks or stone walls

CATANANCHE

If you haven’t yet tried this wonderful perennial, do so in the near future. Floating on wiry stems, the light purplish flowers with a maroon eye have a crisp, papery feel. They can be used to good effect in drifts in the garden or are suitable for dry arrangements as well. My favourite companion is the Spanish Bluebell, or Wood Hyacinth, Hyacinthoides hispanica, formerly known as Endymion hispanicus, and sometimes called Scilla campanulata which blooms before Cupid’s Dart and benefits by the perennial’s growth to hide its own dying foliage and fill the space it leaves when it retreats underground.

Catananche caerulea:  Cupid's Dart, lilac-blue

this papery flower can be seen in the border around this page and directly above
where:  in masses, in rock gardens, as frontal plant
with:  Achillea, Artemisia stelleriana, Oenothera
offset beside:  spring-flowering Endymion hispanicus (to hide dying foliage & fill empty space)
with:  Anemone pulsatilla, Anemone sylvestris, Aquilegia, Dicentra
in light shade with:  ferns, Helleborus orientalis, Hosta, Myosotis, Phlox divaricata, Phlox stolonifera, Primula
with shrubs:  Chaenomeles japonica, Forsythia, Jasminum nudiflorum, Rhododendron, Deutzia gracilis, Weigela
with low-growing shrubs:  Cotoneaster, Berberis
with bushy, tree-like:  Acer palmatum

DELPHINIUM

An eye-catching, stately plant in its many hues, the delphinium clan even boasts some true-blue shades. If summers are cool, they perform at their best. Even when we can’t provide the ideal habitat, we can enjoy them for the brief time they grace our gardens and replace them when necessary so we won’t be long without the wonderful contribution they make to every garden picture.

Delphinium:  violet

behind:  Lilium regale (white) & Achillea (pinkish-lilac, cerise-red or buff yellow 'Great Expectations)
above combination behind:  Sedum 'Dragon's Blood' (wine foliage & reddish-purple flowers)

behind:  Lilium (light yellow forms) and an edging of Alchemilla mollis

HEMEROCALLIS

Though individual flowers last only one day, supposedly a well-established clump of daylilies can produce more than 300 flowers in a season, sometimes over a period of three to four weeks. If you choose cultivars from the early, mid and late bloom seasons, you can have nearly continuous blooms for three to four months. Below are only a few from the purple range, but there are thousands of others of nearly every hue imaginable.

Hemerocallis 'Bali Watercolor':  lavender with silvery watermark above green throat, scape height 35", bloom 9"

this Spider daylily was registered in 2002, Spider Ratio 4.36:1, season M, Fragrant, Rebloomer

this Spider daylily cultivar was registered in 2000, Spider Ratio 4.13:1, season M

this Spider daylily cultivar was registered in 1992, Spider Ratio 4.50:1, season EM, Rebloomer

this Unusual Form Crispate daylily cultivar was registered in 1982, season M, Fragrant Rebloomer

this Unusual Form Crispate daylily cultivar was registered in 2002, season M

Hemerocallis 'Lavender Tonic'

combined with: Lythrum virgatum ‘Morden Pink’ & Veronica longifolia 'Sunny Border Blue'

combined with: Echinacea 'Bright Star', pink Allium 'Summer Beauty' & yellow Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'

despite the word blue in its description, this daylily has more pinkish-purple tones
for partnership ideas follow the link to Butterfly Magnets & Their Companions

This cultivar is variously described as light wine-red, clear grape-violet, plum-wine, rose-wine, dusky maroon-red, strong violet and deep wine to quote just a few sources. If you use Google/Images to view pictures of it, you will see that cameras are no more able to capture the reality of the colour than the verbal descriptions are. So my advice would be - buy it, grow it and decide what colour it is yourself. However you describe it, it will make a wonderful addition to your garden and will surely complement anything in its vicinity. Trust me.

Hemerocallis 'Train to Venice':  

this huge-flowered beauty is so stunning it creates significant impact all by itself

A wealth of possibilities awaits. Use the ideas and information at the links below if you are planning to add more Daylilies to your gardens.

HESPERIS

A Phlox paniculata look-alike, Hesperis has similarly rounded flower clusters. However, while Garden Phlox blooms bear five petals, those of Dame's Rocket have only four. This fragrant native wildflower will bring beauty to any setting you can provide, from woodlands to full sun. Self-sown seedlings will keep this short-lived perennial around for years.

Hesperis matronalis:  Sweet Rocket, Dame's Rocket:  2-3'x18-24"

where:   borders, meadows, woodlands
with:  Tulipa, Paeonia, Iris x germanica
to fill area during dormancy, with:  Artemisia, Achillea

HEUCHERA

If you want plants with all-summer presence in the garden, you can do no better than to choose from this genus. While in bloom, the delicate flowers of Coralbells will delight, with their ability to sway in the slightest breeze on their erect stems. Blooms are sometimes inconspicuous, but the foliage is always of interest. The purple tones mentioned below refer, of course, to the foliage, rather than the flowers.

Heuchera 'Plum Pudding':  pewter-grey foliage underlaid with deep purple, and pinkish flowers, 22"x12"

with:  Heuchera 'Silver Veil'

with:  lime-green Filipendula, deep blue Corydalis 'China Blue'

with:  Festuca ovina glauca

where:  best in part shade
with:  pink, lavender, blue and white
amid:  dwarf Iris cristata 'Alba'
in shade with:  Lamium 'Beacon Silver', (blue) Hosta 'Halcyon', Dicentra eximia
in shade with:   Pulmonaria saccharata, Nepeta 'Blue Wonder', Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
with:  Gypsophila paniculata, Artemisia 'Powis Castle', Oenothera missouriensis 'Green Court'
with:  Liatris spicata, Sedum 'Vera Jameson'
in front of:  Digitalis, Allium, Artemisia versicolor

INCARVILLEA

Commonly known as Hardy Gloxinia, Incarvillea is, in fact, not particularly hardy, preferring winter protection north of Zone 5. And it is certainly not a Gloxinia. So what is the attraction with this rosy-purple perennial? It could be the large flowers, their trumpet shapes calling out for your attention. Or it might be the somewhat tropical look of the blooms, held above dark, bold, low-growing green leaves. Unless you have soil that is excessively moist, you might want to give this one a try.

Incarvillea delavayi:  18-24"x12"

under:  Eremurus
with groundcover plants:  Arabis, Iberis, Sedum
in partial shade with:  Asarum, foliage plants

IRIS

It is much harder to study and learn about all the different types of Irises than it is to grow them. Most do well in the average garden with little extra care beyond regular maintenance to keep them pest and disease free. And the colours! The flower form! The texture! A large clump will produce a stunning overall appearance while a single flower stalk in a vase for close-up viewing will amaze you with both its simplicity and its complexity.

Iris x germanica:  tall deep purple

with:  Cerastium tomentosum

with:  Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir White'
beside:  Gypsophila repens 'Rosea'

seen in the photograph above with purple Aubrieta and other emerging spring bulbs

with:  Viola, Trollius

seen in the photo above with Miscanthus sinensis 'Silberpfeil', Scilla sibirica and buds of a nearby white peony I hoped would bloom with it

combined with:  lemon-yellow Iris 'New Moon' & white Iris 'Ermine Robe'

with:  almost any colour

Is it predominantly purple or white?
with:  Trollius to echo the yellow highlights of the beard
Many companions will contrast with either of the main colours.

LAVANDULA

Everyone has surely seen photographs of huge drifts of this perennial herb whose common name reveals the color of its flower. Unless you are allergic to bees, you will want to try to re-create such a drift in your own flower beds, not only for the blooms produced but for the wonderful scent of the foliage as well.

Lavendula:  Lavender

where:  ornamental or herb gardens, rock gardens, as edger
with:  Stachys byzantina or Thymus pseudolanuginosus (for textural contrast)
in rock gardens with:  dwarf Achillea, Arabis, dry-soil plants
with:  Verbena including V. bonariensis
in borders with:  Eryngium, Echinops ritro, Achillea, Dianthus, Sedum, Oenothera, Hemerocallis, shrub roses
in front of:  Tradescantia (to keep it from flopping forward))
with:  roses (shrubs similar in colour to Lavandula or other pinkier shades)
with:  low growing sun-loving types of Phlox
with:  Scabiosa columbaria 'Pink Mist'
with:  Yucca
with:  Lilium martagon album, Lychnis (white Campion), Lythrum, Oenothera fruticosa, Oenothera speciosa 'Rosea'

LIATRIS

The tall, feathery wands of densely-packed flower-heads of the Gayfeathers open from the top down. This alone makes them different from most other perennials. The grass-like foliage provides another point of interest in the gardens they grace. And the fact that they also serve as an attractant for birds and butterflies will make you crave them all the more.

Find the best companions and care information for this genus by following the links below.

FOR PURPLE PERENNIALS & THEIR COMPANIONS - 2 FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW.

• Polemonium - Veronica

All of our own Gardens By The Bay pages can be accessed by clicking on the links below.

HOME

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BOTANICAL LATIN - BASICS

COLOR THEORY

THE GARDENS

CORNER GARDEN CONSTRUCTION  |  CORNER GARDEN PLANTING  |  LONG GARDEN

EAST GARDEN  |  HOSTA GARDEN  |  NORTH GARDEN  |  WINTER GARDENS

PLANT PARTNERSHIPS

BLUE PERENNIALS    Aconitum - Geranium  |  Iris - Vinca

BULBS    Allium - Hyacinthus  |  Narcissus only  |  Tulipa only  |  Minor Bulbs

BUTTERFLY MAGNETS    Anaphalis - Hemerocallis  |  Liatris - Veronicastrum
DAYLILIES      Spider & Unusual Form

EDGERS    Arabis - Iris  |  Nepeta - Veronica

FOLIAGE PERENNIALS     Alchemilla - Tanacetum

HOSTA    Hosta - all

HUMMINGBIRD-FRIENDLY PERENNIALS    Alcea - Salvia

ORANGE PERENNIALS    Achillea - Tulipa

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES    Acorus - Imperata |  Miscanthus - Spodiopogon

PINK PERENNIALS    Achillea - Lilium  |  Lychnis - Veronica

PURPLE PERENNIALS    Aconitum - Liatris  |  Polemonium - Veronica

RED PERENNIALS    Achillea - Veronica

SHADE PERENNIALS    Aegopodium - Erythronium  |  Ferns - Polemonium  |  Polygonatum - Vinca

SILVER FOLIAGE PERENNIALS    Achillea - Cerastium    |    Cornus - Limonium    |    Lunaria - Veronica

SIMPLY SPECIAL PERENNIALS    Acanthus - Saxifraga

WHITE PERENNIALS    Achillea - Iris  |  Kalimeris - Yucca

YELLOW PERENNIALS    Achillea - Hypericum  |  Inula - Verbascum

VARIEGATED-FOLIAGE PERENNIALS    Acorus - Erythronium  |  Hakonechloa - Lysimachia  |  Miscanthus - Yucca

PLANT PROFILES

Dianthus 'Tiny Rubies'  |  Geranium  |  Geum coccineum  |  Kerria japonica  |  Knautia macedonica

Paeonia tenuifolia  |  Papaver somniferum  |  Rudbeckia  |  Salvia 'East Friesland'

Trollius  |  Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'

PROPAGATION

DIVISION - SPRING ONLY  |   DIVISION - FALL ONLY  |   DIVISION - SPRING OR FALL  |   DO NOT DIVIDE

FERTILIZATION

BULBS  |   ORNAMENTAL GRASSES  |   PERENNIALS  |   SHRUBS  |   VINES

LINKS

GARDENS  |   LOCAL GARDENS  |   BOTANICAL TERMINOLOGY

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