A Passion for Purple

I have a fondness for alliteration, so originally I was going to title this post simply "Purple Passion" until I realized someone might reach this blog by googling and expect something quite different. Just in case there is still some confusion, this post is about purple flowers.


Last week I did a post about the surprising number of yellow flowers in my garden this year, but as I said then, pink and purple make up the main color scheme here. When I started gardening in earnest, I thought purple would make a nice complement to the coneflowers (which, of course, aren't really purple, but pink) and other pink blooms. Looking through garden catalogs and nursery websites, I was amazed by the number of plants which do have purple blooms. I have just a few purple perennials, but their size makes up for their small numbers.


If you have a little time, let's take a stroll around my garden and yard to look for signs of purple. But we'll make it quick--it's been typical July weather in Illinois this week, which means hot and muggy, and it's threatening rain at the moment. Please ignore any weeds that might peek through; the weather has made me a bit lethargic this week.

I included a photo of this Russian Sage on my bloom day post, but here's a larger view of it. This is at the back of my main flowerbed, which is where it should be, as it's threatening to engulf the Knockout roses in front of it. The sage makes a nice backdrop for purple coneflowers; you can see a few peeking through here, which are actually at the front of the flowerbed.

I read somewhere that bees are attracted to purple; that's certainly the case in my garden. The Russian Sage has been attracting all kind of honeybees, or some type of bee that looks like a honeybee. The bumblebees, however, seem to prefer this Walker's Low Nepeta.




This plant is only a year old and has grown to gigantic proportions this year. I'm not sure what I did right. The May Night salvia below is not in full bloom right now, so I had to struggle to capture this lonely little purple bloom. Unfortunately, in the sun the true color doesn't show up--it's actually a much darker purple. I also have two East Friesland salvia; these three plants are by far the bumblebees' favorite haunts. I haven't deadheaded these plants all summer, which probably accounts for the lack of purple blooms right now.

Even in the shade garden, there a few touches of purple, even though I didn't plan this. The hostas have shot up blooms this past week, including these lavender beauties. Some people have said they don't care for hosta blooms, but I like them. To me, they're an added bonus, a surprise, during the long, hot days of July.

I know everyone plants heuchera for their foliage, but I like their blooms as well. I'm stretching the purple idea a bit with this photo, but the foliage is much darker than it appears here, and the stems of the blooms are definitely purple. Besides, it's called "Plum Pudding," so I think that qualifies as purple.

Purple is such a dramatic color that it is surprising how well it goes with other colors. Besides pink, it also looks good paired with yellow. The sun really washed out this photo below because the verbena next to the yellow coreopsis is actually a much darker hue. This is an annual, "Purple Homestead," but I wonder if it might survive as a perennial in a southern garden.

Purple also pairs well with blue and even red. However, I just realized that I don't have any red in my garden other than the Knockout roses, which prefer not to be photographed at the moment. That's too bad; that's a color combination that appeals to me . . ."I will wear purple with a red hat . . ." Hmm, there's an idea for another flowerbed.

Moving on to my containers, the pink and purple theme continues. I've shown you this accent plant before--the purple-leaved Persian Shield.

And another favorite, heliotrope...

Purple comes in so many shades--try matching an accessory to a new purple sweater--from the delicate pastels of lavender and lilac to bright violets to the richness of dark purple. You can really see this in the different petunias growing in pots around my garden. There is the double dark blue supertunia growing in the porch planter, which is actually a medium shade of purple.

For a true dark purple, though, check out this "Royal Velvet" supertunia. Again, the sun is making it appear lighter than it really is, but it contrasts beautifully against the frothy "Diamond Frost" euphorbia in this planter.

But here is one of my favorites--the supertunia "Priscilla," a variegated double petunia that shows the varying shades of purple.

The best purple accent in my garden, though, is one I've shown you before, but only as a baby. The "Victoria Blue" salvia has just started to bloom. This is truly my favorite annual, and I have it scattered in many places--behind Stella d'Oro daylilies, in front of the coneflowers in my roadside garden, and here tucked in behind the rocks fronted with the coreopsis and verbena pictured above. I even stuck a few leftover Victorias in planters this year. We'll check on these in a couple weeks again so I can show you just why I like them so much.

Oh dear, it's really starting to rain now, and we didn't even see the Roxanne geranium blooming. Well, that will have to wait for another day. But do you mind if we grab an umbrella? I'd really like to show you a few more things other than my purple plants before we leave.

I didn't get to show these pictures of a couple daylilies for Bloom Day because I was too focused on my coneflowers. These are both passalong plants from my aunt who also gave me my irises, so I don't know their names. Like the irises, these lilies did not bloom last year, and I really thought they were goners. But they have been a pleasant surprise this summer.

Now that I know how beautiful they are, I'd really like to move them to a more prominent place to show them off. I'm worried, though, a move might cause them to wait another two years to bloom. What's your advice?

Well, here's another surprise! Where did this caladium come from all of a sudden? Apparently the bulbs I planted in late May weren't all drowned out after all. This is the only one I see, though.

The sun is peeking out again, and here's a little butterfly hiding out in a sweet potato vine.

He won't unfurl his wings so we can identify him. Could it be a monarch? I saw my first Monarch butterfly arrive on my coneflowers yesterday, so maybe if you come back next week we'll be able to see a real butterfly show.

I know it's time for you to go. Thanks for spending some time with me viewing my purple "majesties." I hope you didn't get too wet!