30 Exotic Types of Purple Flowers for a Truly Gorgeous Garden

Purple flowers are synonymous with royalty, from the classic lavender to the bright magenta. The purple color ties kings and queens back to the ancient world, which is why it is known as the royal color.

30 Captivating Purple Flowers for Your Garden

Whether out in the garden or as décor inside the house, purple flowers will add a touch of elegance to your space. To accentuate the power of purple, it is best to pair the color with yellow flowers, its complementary color. Purple pink and white also go well together with purple. Below is a detailed list of some cool purple flowers.

1. Lavender (Lavandula)

This is the most popular type of purple flower. It has an eccentric fragrance due to the shining glands embedded among the ‘plant hairs.’ The most fragrant lavender is the true English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia. Apart from scenting various products, lavender is also used to flavor beverages and has some applications in herbal medicine.

2. Bellflower (Campanula)

Bellflowers are star-shaped purple blooms mainly used as ground flowers and dividers in gardens. They are perfect for rock gardens, cascading over walls or containers. They are easy to grow and are virtually disease and pest-free. Removing spent flowers is an easy hack for increasing bellflowers’ flowering time.

3. Allium (Allium)

Allium, also known as ornamental onion, is usually roughly spherical and comprises hundreds of tiny flowers. These umbels of little star-shaped flowers appear as ethereal balls of color in the garden, beautifully floating above other flowers. The coarse flower head of allium contrasts nicely with delicate flowers. It requires minimal care but shows large, early to late season blooms.

4. Cosmos (Cosmos Bipinnatus)

Cosmos is a medium-sized flowering herbaceous plant with saucer-shaped and daisy-like flowers. They are showy annuals and are excellent flowers that bring birds and lots of butterflies to your garden. They are perfect for adding that frilly texture to the garden. A gardening tip for this flower is that the more you cut them, the taller they grow.

5. Catmint (Nepeta)

This is a perennial that is long-blooming, heat-resistant, and also pest-resistant. It is an aromatic herb that produces clusters of lavender-purple flowers. It blends well with most other colors but looks appealing when paired with flower colors in the red-blue spectrum. These long, silvery floral spikes provide a long season of blooms and make for great flowers.

6. Monkshood (Aconitum Napellus)

Monkshood, also known as wolfsbane, is a beautiful purple flower plant with tall spires of purple flowers. It is perfect for pollination as its nectar, and pollen-rich flowers attract pollinators, especially bumblebees. They go well together with other late summer perennials such as asters. Monkshood is super easy to grow, hardy, and the dusky colored flowers make great cut flowers.

7. Woodland Sage (Salvia Nemorosa)

These are spikes of purple blooms and are also referred to as violet sage. They are drought tolerant and low maintenance hence a good choice for an easy-care garden. After spending the flowers, it is advisable to remove the spikes to encourage additional flowering. Salvias will reward you with flowers that last until autumn.

8. Clematis (Clematis)

Clematis is rich in color and texture and produces more flowers in less space than any other plant. The standard flower form is a large blossom with six or seven petals, measuring 5 to 6″ across. They are also climbing plants, so be sure to provide them with something to climb on from the first day.

9. Dwarf Irises (Iris Reticulata)

Iris Reticulata is a fragrant dwarf species of Spring flowering Iris. These gorgeous gems are perfect for adding color to your garden at the end of winter. They emerge before the foliage and look like butterflies hovering just above the ground. They are also suitable for pots, rockeries, or garden borders.

10. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)

This is a popular flower found in backyards and gardens across the USA. They add color to the garden and make great flowers for display in your home. They are pollinator-friendly and attract birds, bees, and butterflies to your garden, to support self-seeding for the next season’s yield. They are easy to grow hence suitable for beginners.

11. Alpine Betony (Stachys Monieri)

These are showy bottle-brush-shaped spikes of bright purple flowers, bee, and butterfly magnets. It may be a focal point or in mixed beds and borders. For a showstopping effect, plant them in drifts. They are perfect for use as cut flowers and their blooming period lasts several weeks, from early through mid-summer.

12. Bell Heather (Erica Cinerea)

These are dark-purple bell-shaped flowers that form clusters up the stem. They grow up to 1 feet tall and 24 inches wide. Bell Heathers are easy to grow and are great for rock gardens, slopes, coastal gardens, cottage gardens, and containers. They need annual pruning, or they become straggly.

13. Butterfly Bush (Buddleia Davidii)

Butterfly bushes have long panicles of colorful purple flowers, attracting butterflies and many other beneficial insects. They are some of the longest-blooming shrubs you can find and make great cut flower arrangements. There are concerns about the flowers being invasive, but if you still want to have them in your garden, a few non-invasive variants are native to the southwestern US.

14. Heliotrope (Heliotropium Arborescens)

These beauties are temperate perennials usually grown as an annual. The deep purple variety is the most fragrant of all heliotropes. They are also long bloomers who begin flowering in summer and offer their fragrant bounty through the first frost. Heliotropes are, however, poisonous to humans and animals if ingested, so make sure to keep them away from children and pets.

15. Anemone (Anemone Nemorosa)

These are star-shaped, single, purple poppy-like flowers with a ring of prominent golden stamens. They naturalize well and will gradually spread into colorful colonies. On gray days, the flowers remain closed and hang their heads, but when the sun shines, the blossoms are held aloft, fully open, and follow the sun’s course across the sky.

16. Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum Dulcamara)

Bittersweet Nightshade has a star-shaped flower plant with stamens fused in a prominent yellow cone. The orange flowers are ½ inch across and have five petals flaring to tightly curled back. After a while, the flowers mature to round or egg-shaped berries that ripen from green to orange to red.

17. Bee Orchid (Ophrys Apifera)

This is one of the most gorgeous and well-known orchid species. The appearance of the flower lives up to its name as the lip closely resembles a bumblebee. It has three light purple sepals and usually produces three to five flowers but sometimes ten or more. Due to its bumblebee resemblance, bees visit the flower in hopes of mating with the ‘faux-bees,’ which ensures the plant is pollinated.

18. Wild Hyacinth (Dichelostemma Capitatum)

This is unique six parted star-shaped flowers with conspicuous yellow anthers and grows in loose spike-like clusters. Each flower is on a short pedicel, and buds open sequentially, with the lowest flowers preceding those at the top.

19. Carnations (Dianthus Caryophyllus)

Carnation blossoms are among the hardier of ornamental flowering plants but make a cool addition to both jam-packed flower beds and sparser rock gardens. They have a high long staying power and an aroma of sweetness with hints of warm, earthy spice. They are primarily seen in bouquets and are rarely sold for home cultivation.

20. Calla Lily (Zantedeschia)

These are a must-have in the garden or at home. They are perfect for borders, containers, and cut flowers, as they provide a spectacular effect with their rich, colorful color and breathtaking chalice shape. With minimal work needed, they will burst into bloom and bright notes of summer color to the garden or inside your home.

21. Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus Orientalis)

This South African native beauty displays large masses of striking shades of purple flowers. It makes a beautiful back border or focal point due to its magnificent trumpet-shaped flowers. This is a head-turner due to the inflorescences which tower above the seemingly assorted, overhanging leaves. As they are called, love flowers are undemanding but will sure make their presence in the garden more attractive.

22. China Aster (Callistephus Chinensis)

China Aster is grown as an annual and is a very rewarding summer flower. It has a brilliant purple color, and it blooms over a long season. They can be grown in beds or containers on the patio and are pretty cool inside bouquets. They also vary in form, from single daisy-like blossoms to fully double flowers with a pompom form.

23. Canterbury Bells (Campanula Medium)

Canterbury Bells is a tall biennial with showy flowers and a beautiful cup-and-saucer shape which appears in the summer. They thrive well while outdoors due to their height. When cut, the blooms last a long time, making them a perfect choice for bouquets and vases.

24. Candytuft (Iberis Pruitii)

Candytuft gets its name not from candy but from the beautiful blooming that renews itself from early spring to fall. It is a ground-hugging perennial flower mainly used as pathway edging. It is also a slow grower that will brighten up your garden for many years. While candytufts are good at drawing bees and butterflies, they have an unpleasant smell.

25. Columbine (Aquilegia)

These are unique-looking flowers with dangling bell-like shapes and spurs at the back. They are easy to grow and prevalent garden plants. The contrasting color makes them a pretty sight to look at. It is beneficial for beds and borders because it grows in clumps and is also great in containers and gardening in small spaces.

26. Common Comfrey (Symphytum Officinale)

This perennial plant is somewhat invasive and grows to about 0.25 feet tall. It has terminal clusters of nodding, tubular bell-shaped, purple flowers. Although this plant contains some poisonous chemicals, some people still heal injuries.

27. Fuchsia (Fuchsia Magellanica)

These are purple flowers that hang downwards, with their outer petals curved backward. This hanging growth habit gave rise to the popular name, Ladies eardrop. They are primarily grown in bedding plants, pot plants, and hanging baskets for indoor or greenhouse cultivation.

28. Crocus (Crocus Vernus)

Crocus flowers bloom bright and early, bringing much-needed color after winter. Due to their colorful blooms and sweet fragrance, the flowers lure hungry bees out of their hives. They also spread and come back year after year, with very minimal care. They are, however, prone to rodents and squirrels hence need to be covered with wire mesh.

29. Foxgloves (Digitalis Purpurea)

This is a stunning flower with tubular blossoms that have specked throats. It creates a dramatic effect with its tall flowers. In a flower bed, these flowers can grow up to 5feet, so they are best planted at the back of the flowerbeds. The center flower stalks should be cut after flowering for additional flower stalks to develop.

30. Waxflower (Chamelaucium)

The Waxflower is known for being a perfect starter plant for beginners. It blooms its best during the dead season of winter when all other plants are dead. The non-stop production of flowers makes the flowers great for ornamental use, especially in flower arrangements.

30 Super Chic types of Purple Flower Plants for Flower Ornamentation

The list of different purple flowers is endless. The ones listed above are some of the most common types. The information is set to help you choose which flower suits your needs, whether for gardening or flower arrangements. You can try mixing various shades of purple flowers to create a serene pool. They are also perfect for adding weight to a border of flowers, anchoring bright colors, and defining other flowers in the garden. Purple flowers are also perfect for gifting as they add a touch of elegance to a bouquet. You are assured of getting a royal reward from Purple flowers.