The color Ultra Violet purple is big this year so why not add flowers and foliage in purple and blue to your garden? The color of the year, in fact, is a deeply saturated shade of violet that’s more blue than red. Shades and versions of the color have captured the household appliance market, the clothing arena, and is a sure winner for bridal bouquets.

Nature offers just a handful of truly blue flowers (bluebells, delphiniums, Plumbago); the majority are of hues somewhere between red and blue. Ultra Violet can be described as a blue-based purple, which perfectly describes most flowers that don’t fall into the yellow, red or green sections of the color wheel. But flowers aren’t like painted posts or garden furniture. Their colors transform throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky, and as they develop in stages from just unfurled to fading. It’s what gives flowers their magic.

When you consider deploying blue / purple color to your garden, you’ll want to think about how sunlight and shade affect the color purple? What colors make purple come out of the dark, and what are some easy to grow purple plants? In this article, Jean Starr, noted garden writer and frequent contributor to PlantersPlace, provides useful information on 18 purple plants, along with suggestions on how to use them in your garden.

Color and the Garden

The most common flower color is pink, from baby to shocking. True red is rare; blue even more so. Calling the color of a flower ‘blue’ is purely a romantic gesture. It’s most often purple, in the wide range between red and blue. Some familiar plants with varieties that are most likely to contain blue include Veronica, Delphinium, Heliotrope, Lavender and Lilac. But, there are just as many plants that never seem to attain the color purple—sunflowers, peonies, daffodils, marigolds.

Sometimes the plant’s hybrid (cultivar) name offers a clue: Oxalis ‘Plum Crazy’ or Honeywort ‘Kiwi Blue’. Some cultivar names just allude to it: Verbena ‘Storm Burst’ or Sweet violet ‘Rosina’; while others have nothing to do with color: Clary sage ‘Piemont, or Veronica ‘Very Van Gogh’.

Oh, and don’t overlook leaves when seeking violet for the garden. Plants like Canna, with its huge tropical foliage won’t give you purple flowers, but there are varieties with purple leaves. They range from annuals to tropicals to hardy shrubs, and include coral bells, smoke bush, elephant ears, Hosta, Begonia, and black Mondo grass.

Effect of Sunshine on Color

Blue is considered a cool color (along with green and purple), and it is said to instill tranquility. But if you’re looking for some cool on a hot summer day, it’s best if you sit yourself in the shade and cool-colored plants in the sun. Sunshine brings out the cool colors, giving them a chance to dazzle along with their hot-colored neighbors.

In The Well-Designed Mixed Garden, author Tracy Di-Sabato-Aust says too much violet in a garden can be lifeless if not charged with the vitality of the sun. Violet, like blue, decreases in contrast in the shade and is often lost in it. She recommends planting neighbors that vary in texture, form and tone, adding silver and yellow to enliven violet.

Before deciding to use purple in its deepest shades, consider what time of day you’ll be viewing the garden area. Deep purples – from the dark-leaved elephant ears to the palest purple larkspur—disappear at dusk. Of course, if you will be looking at that same garden from early morning through mid-afternoon, the colors will add depth and richness to surrounding colors.

Effect of Shade on Color

When I needed to add more shade-lovers to my garden, I came across a variety of hardy Geranium called ‘Samabor’. I loved its colorful demeanor—green leaves streaked by a thick ring of nearly-black purple and accompanied in spring by blooms of dark plum. It’s a good thing I only bought one plant. It blended so well into the shady ground I soon forgot it was there, while it took advantage of the situation by setting seed and spreading like a rampant rash. I wouldn’t say it was a bad plant. It just had no place in my garden.

Color considerations in interior design don’t always transfer to the garden. Architectural Digest suggests softening Ultra Violet with other purples, pinks, and blues. “By working with other shades in the same color family—lilac, blush, mauve, blue, etc.—the boldness of Ultra Violet will soften and suddenly feel right at home.”

I can’t fathom why anyone would recommend softening anything in the purple category. I painted the living room in my first apartment a medium shade of lilac and bought shiny purple garland for my first Christmas tree.

In the landscape, coordinating colors is a lot less complicated. There are enough flowers and foliage in the violet color range to carry the garden from spring through fall. Starting with the bright indigo of grape hyacinth, and dusky mauve of Hellebores straight through to the glowing fall asters, purples are there for us throughout the growing season.

Spring Purples

1. Grape hyacinth (Muscari) The blue flowered bulbs grow 6 to 10 inches tall and are hardy in Zones 4-8. Try combining them with early yellow tulips or daffodils.
2. Hellebores bloom very early at a height of no more than 18 inches. Most are hardy from Zone 4-9. Combine them with white checkered lilies (Fritillaria meleagris)
3. Heuchera, or coral bells, comes in varieties that have purple leaves. They grow under 12 inches, and can be combined with silver-leaved Pulmonaria or bright yellow Vancouveria. Most are hardy from Zones 5-9
4. Pasque flower (Anemone pulsatilla) covers itself in large violet-purple flowers and reaches about 8 to 10 inches tall. It is hardy from Zones 4-8, and can be combined with miniature early daffodils or white Muscari.

1. Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) Flowers on this shade-loving American native are sky-blue tinged with violet. They are hardy from Zones 3-8. Combine them with Brunnera ‘Hadspen Cream’, a shade-lover with flowers of a similar color and brightly variegated leaves.
2. Wind flower (Anemone blanda) This daisy-like flower grows from fall-planted bulbs and are hardy from Zones 5-8. For the most beautiful display, try mixing all of the colors (including white and pink) together. They prefer full sun.

Summertime Blues

1. Blue false indigo (Baptisia) typically grows up to 5 feet tall and wide, and hates to be relocated once established. New varieties, like Baptisia ‘Sparkling Sapphires’, grows only 2 ½ to 3 feet tall and wide. It is hardy in Zones 4-9, and can be combined with other sun-lovers like peonies and Siberian iris.

1. Nepeta (sometimes called catmint) Nepeta ‘Purrsian Blue’ is a newer variety that stays under 20 inches tall with a spread of around 30 inches. Because of their fragrant foliage, they are resistant to deer and hardy in Zones 3-8. Combine it with annual or perennial poppies.
2. Clematis is available in a huge range of pale to deep purple. ‘Happy Jack’ and ‘Rooguchi’ offer deep plum, while ‘Brother Stefan’ is medium blue and ‘Betty Corning’ is a pale lavender-blue. Most Clematis are hardy in Zones 4-8 and look great as a backdrop to Hydrangeas like ‘Endless Summer’.
3. Siberian Iris don’t need to be divided as often as the bearded iris, and have leaves that stay green and provide a vertical accent. They bloom along with peonies and Allium and reach a height between 18 and 36 inches. Combine them with Shasta daisies for a beautiful contrast.

1. Poppies (Papaver): If you pick annual seed-grown poppies, they’ll bloom for more than a month. This is especially true with hybrids like ‘Lauren’s Dark Grape’. For paler purple, try ‘Lilac Pompon’, a double type. Combine poppies with a planting of dill for an airy combination.
2. Butterfly bush (Buddleja) New varieties of this butterfly magnet are more compact, with bigger blooms. ‘Orchid Annie’ reaches up to three feet with eight inch long orchid purple flowers. Lo and Behold ‘Blue Chip’ reaches just 30 inches. Both look great with coneflowers and ornamental grasses.

Late-summer – Fall

1. Bugbane (Actaea simplex) is a great fall-bloomer, with white to pale pink flowers like bottle brushes. Cultivars ‘Brunette’ and ‘Pink Spike’ have deep purple leaves, grow from four to six feet tall, and are hardy in Zones 4-8. Try pairing them with fall blooming Anemone.
2. Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus) is hardy only in Zones 8-10, and takes a long period of warmth to bloom with flowers that range from pale to deep blue on stems that can reach up to two feet tall. Plant Agapanthus in a pot by itself if you live in a cold region and grow it in full sun.
3. Asters (Symphyotrichum): They’ve been given a complicated name but there’s nothing hard about growing these fall bloomers. For a frothy spot of blue, try ‘Little Carlow’, a hybrid that grows about two feet tall and sports tiny blue flowers. It is hardy in Zones 4-8 and looks great with deep orange or gold fall mums.
4. Salvia (annual) The best Salvias seem to wait until fall to really take off. It’s true with ‘Amistad’ and ‘Love and Wishes’, both hummingbird magnets that grow up to four feet tall. They are hardy in Zones 9-11 and mix well with Cleome.
5. Toad Lily (Trycirtis): These shade-lovers range in height from 12” to 3 feet and in hardiness from Zones 4-8. Plant Delights has introduced several hybrids, many of which contain white and purple in their flowers.
6. Russian sage (Perovskia) is a great plant for a sunny spot. A variety called ‘Blue Jean Baby’ grows under three feet tall, quite a feat for this beast. It’s hardy from Zones 4-9 and makes a good companion for ornamental grasses and Agastache.

Conclusion

Whether the name says ultramarine, blue or violet, plants in the purple category are like mood music, enhancing the background while other colors step in for their spirited solos. Think blue as the “little black dress” – it looks great by itself, but even better with contrasting accessories.