Growing Purple Flowering Shrubs
Below you will find a list of Shrubs from our plant database that are purple flowering. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping. The concept of a shrub can be difficult to clearly define since different people might consider the same plant a groundcover, broadleaf evergreen, bush or tree.
Several of these flowering shrubs are native plants, which are more naturally insect resistant, salt tolerant and have natural disease resistance. Carolina Rhododendron bloom colors include rose and lilac-rose. Catawba Rhododendrons are among the hardiest Rhododendrons and have a beautiful range of bloom colors including lavender and purple. The Florida Anise-tree (Illicium floridanum) is surprisingly hardy, fragrant and water-loving. Mescal Bean which is also known as Texas Mountain Laurel or Sophora secundiflora has lacy foliage texture with blue and purple spring flowers. Pinxterbloom Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) is another good native naturalizing deciduous Azalea.
Europe and Asia have given American gardeners numerous lovely purple flowering shrubs that include: Butterly-bush or Summer Lilac (Buddleja or Buddleia davidii); Lilacs (Syringa) of many types, not just the common lilacs that we remember from our Grandmother's garden. The Lilac genus offers a large variety of heights, bloom times and flower colors. Chinese Fringe-flower (Loropetalum) offer soft texture for Southern gardens. Crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia) have increased hardiness with recent breeding advances. Japanese Pieris, in the Azalea / Rhododendron family, resemble Lily of the Valley flowers. The Little Girls Series of hybrid Magnolias in shades of purples and reds will mature to only 15-20'.
What may be confusing or surprising about this list of purple flowering shrubs are the pictures with pink and blue flowers. In Bigleaf Hydranges (H. macrophylla) the color of the flower is determined by the pH of the soil. Acidic soil (pH 5-5.8) will produce blue and purple flowers and Alkaline soils (pH 6-7) will flower pink.
Also consider Hydrangea serrata, known as Blood-on-the-snow, Japanese Mountain Hydrangea and Tea of Heaven, which is hardier than H. macrophylla.
Bushes with purple flowers add a special grace to a landscape. The strong, vibrant purple color can be enjoyed throughout the season and blends well with lavender, orchid, lilac, violet, white, blue, pink and looks particularly striking mixed with green and white variegated foliage on shrubs, groundcovers and evergreens and vines.