Add Color to Your Landscape by Planting These 13 Purple Shrubs

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The color purpleness has long been associated with office and prominence , as “ bear to the purpleness ” means digest into royalty . And , in the U.K. , “ have a purple patch ” intend have a time period of success . Here , it could think of planting purpleness - flowering or purple - foliaged bush to offset the strong hued ones .

Keep in psyche that blossom called “ bluish ” often are shades of purple instead , since true amobarbital sodium is uncommon in the flora world . And foliage called “ sinister ” often actually is grim purpleness . Most of these majestic shrubs perform best in full Sunday , though some endure fond shade and brunfelsia prefers it .

purple lilac shrub in front of suburban home

Photo: istockphoto.com

1. Bluebeard (Caryopteris spp.)

Still one of the more uncommon regal - flowering shrubs , this deciduous type also flower at an rare time — late summer — after the flowers of many other shrubs have faded . It grow 3 to 4 feet marvellous , and its “ beard ” ( airy violet - blue flower clusters ) appear either at the tips of the plant life ’ stem or in the foliage articulatio . Bluebeard ’s hardiness typically varies from USDA zone 5 to 9 , thoughC. incana‘Sunshine Blue ’ can handle heat up to Zone 11 . The shrub ordinarily will pass back to the ground over winter in Zones 5 and 6 and should be bring down back intemperately in spring in warm zone .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 5 to 9Best For : Border , butterfly garden

2. Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii)

The blue hibiscus is n’t actually ahibiscus , though it does produce hibiscus - like blooms 4 inch across . vary from 4 to 8 feet marvelous with finely split up evergreen leafage , this purple flower bush blooms year - stave but most heavily in late spring and other summertime . If you keep it out of drying wind , each bloom should last at least 3 days . flush colours graze from purple blueness for the Mood Indigo cultivar to moody purple for Monterey Bay .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 9 to 11Best For : Xeriscaping , patio

3. Blue Potato Bush (Lycianthes rantonnetii)

The blue potato bush is n’t really apotatoeither ! Rather , it is an cozy shrub that top off off at between 8 and 12 foot with oval evergreen leaves and twelvemonth - pear-shaped purplish - blue-blooded prime varying from ½ to 1½ inch in width , depending on the cultivar . take Royal Robe for dark purplish flowers , or Lynn ’s vary for blasphemous - empurpled blooms against bloodless - variegated foliage . Avoid its function in highly manicure landscapes , where it tend to look out of place .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 9 to 11Best For : Border , terrace

4. Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)

This deciduous to semi - evergreen flower bush , sometimes also called summer lilac , raise from 5 to 15 infantry improbable and grow tenacious clusters of fragrant flower , many of them like lilac in color as well as in mannequin . Butterfly bushcan bloom almost all summertime in some zona , and usually just in mid- to belated summer in the northmost areas of its range where it fail back to the undercoat during wintertime . Gardeners in climates where the works is incursive should choose sterile cultivars that do n’t produce seeded player such as two Lo & Behold cultivars : Blue Chip ( lavender flush ) and the darker Purple Haze .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 5 to 9Best For : Butterfly garden , pollinator garden

5. Eastern Ninebark (Physocarpus spp.)

If you would prefer empurpled foliage rather than purple prime , try out deciduous aboriginal ninebarks such as Diabolo ( P. opulifolius‘Monlo ’ ) , with reddish regal leave-taking , and Summer Wine ( P. opulifolius‘Seward ’ ) with dark purple ones . Also valued for their attractively peeling bark , these purple shrubs develop from 4 to 8 feet high with clusters ofbee - attractingspirea - comparable pinkish or clean flowers in natural spring or early summer . Keep in idea that the purple foliage may return to dark green in shady land site .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 2 to 7Best For : Hedge , aboriginal garden

6. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

Varying in height from 7 to 12 feet tall , dark and deciduouselderberry shrubssuch as Black Beauty and Black Lace offer purple - black leafage accompanied by pink blooms in late spring and early summertime . They may eventually even acquire purple - black elderberries if you grow more than one President George W. Bush for the best pollination . Those berries can be somewhat toxic if consumed raw .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 4 to 7Best For : Hedge , naturalise

7. Glory Bush (Tibouchina spp.)

Another of the shrub with purple flower , the gloriole bush variegate from 4 to 18 foot tall and bring about disconsolate purple 1- to 3 - inch individual blooms against a backdrop of evergreen velvety oval leaves tinged with silver medal or with orange or red . Some coinage of these bloom crotch hair blossom from previous spring to winter , some only in autumn and winter . They once in a while can survive down to USDA Zone 8 , by dying back to the ground every winter and only reappearing in spring .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 9 to 11Best For : Container , terrace

8. Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta)

Despite its common name , which refers to its berries , this evergreen bush with purple flush is only golden after it produce its clusters of blooms in summertime and autumn , with each floret often charmingly edged with white as in Geisha Girl and Sapphire Showers . Duranta diverge from 10 to 25 foot in ultimate height and might be thorny . Those aforementioned golden fruit actually are extremely toxic , so avoid this bush if you have Charles Edward Berry - eating children or pets .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 9 to 11Best For : Container , privacy screen

9. Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

Lilac in name and often an even darker nuance of purple in color , syringa cultivars are a must - have for gardeners passionate about purpleness . Growing from 8 to 16 understructure with rather bare deciduous foliage , they produce fragrant and exuberant cluster ofspring flowersin hue ranging from the lilac of the mintage variety to the sour purple of Yankee Doodle . yield , there are a few white , pink , and yellow cultivar as well , butlilac varietiesspecialize in the majestic color .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 3 to 7Best For : Hedge , small tree

10. Rose (Rosa spp.)

Although rose Bush with violet flowers are rarefied — their name mean pink instead — there are a few cultivars that characterize . Those vary from the reddish blue hues of the heirloom hybrid perpetual Reine des Violettes to the purple - black shade of the more modern Midnight Blue . Usually deciduous , roses may be evergreen in the warm zone and amount in every size from 8 - inch ground cover version eccentric to 50 - footclimbers . Where they lose their farewell , some varieties boast reddish - empurpled canes in winter .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : vary from 3 to 10Best For : Cottage garden , cutting garden

11. Smokebush (Cotinus coggygria)

Topping out at 12 to 25 foot , smokebushes also can be Tree when pruned to make only one luggage compartment . Although their hassock of pot , composed of pilus bring out by their evanesce flowers , have a reddish - lavender chromaticity , cultivars such as Royal Purple and Velvet Cloak are key for the grim empurpled specter of their deciduous foliage instead ( assuming they get at least 6 hours of sun a sidereal day ) . These shrub actually prefer poor and sandlike — or at least very well draining — soil .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 4 to 10Best For : Hedge , xeriscaping

12. Weigela (Weigela spp.)

Also among shrubs known for “ black ” leaves , weigalas grow from 3 to 10 feet tall and usually produce funnel - shape pink blooms . However , those show up to advantage against a backdrop of dingy royal deciduous foliage in cultivar such as Dark Horse and Wine and Roses . For the in force bloom on this imperial bush , “ The New Sunset Western Garden Book ” recommends that you cut back your weigela by one - half every other year after it flower .

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones : 4 to 8Best For : Hedge , hummingbird garden

13. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora)

These purple - flower plants , sporting 2 - inch , 5 - petaled platter - shaped blooms with bloodless centers , actually only are purple in their “ yesterday ” phase . Afterward , they blow over from lavender ( “ today ” ) into white ( “ tomorrow ” ) . So the semi - evergreen bush that grows to 10 feet in Zones 9 through 11 generally will show two spectre of purple at once during its saltation and fall bloom clip . It will thrive in containers , as well as in the ground .

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We ’ll help you set up your first garden — whether that ’s a few pots on your terrace , a raised layer , or an in - priming coat secret plan out back — and choose the right plants for your grime and neighborhood .

Bluebeard purple bush