Purple-flowering Plants and Trees for Southwest Florida
“I always favor purple-flowering plants and trees, because purple is the color of royalty. Purple pigment was very expensive and hard to obtain, which made it a rare and unique color to be worn only by kings and queens. Purple flowers in the landscape also provide a rich color that contrasts well with all the shades of green in a Southwest Florida landscape. The dark purple of King’s Mantle and lavender of society garlic makes them two of my favorite plants as they blend so well with the white blooms of jasmine and gardenia.”
– Kirk Brummett, Registered Landscape Architect, ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design
Purple-flowering plants and trees are abundant in Southwest Florida — guess you could say purple reigns in our tropical environment. Here at ArtisTree, we get frequent requests for landscapes with a pop of purple, so we thought we’d share some of our favorites with you. Here are five we recommend for their beauty and durability:
- Society garlic: Presents soft lavender blooms two feet high on a dense clump of delicate, upright stems. Plant in full sun and water regularly for spring and fall flowers.
- Jacaranda tree: Offers the prettiest show of any Southwest Florida tree where heaviest-flowering and fastest growth occur in full sun. Flowers can vary from light to deep purple. They love sandy, well-drained soils and regular water while getting established.
- King’s Mantle: Attractive, small, dark-green leaves and tubular flowers of rich purple with a yellow throat resembling a morning glory. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil but will bloom in partial shade.
- Purple ground orchid: Shade-loving plant which grows about a foot tall and slowly spreads to fill a landscape bed with beautiful, wildflower-like blooms. Purple blossoms appear in the summer on top of arching leaves that resemble baby palm fronds. Plant in well-drained soil with full to partial shade.
- Verbena: Vibrant flowers arrive in shades between magenta and violet on top of tall leaf clusters all summer. Plant in moist but well-drained soil (dry conditions can prevent flowering) and full sun.
We could go on and on — so many more plants fit for a queen or king such as dwarf tibouchina and Mexican petunia — but hopefully we’ve inspired your imagination enough to where you’ll visit a local nursery or call a professional landscape company to create a personalized design plan befitting of royalty. Live in Sarasota, Bradenton or Venice? Call ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design at 941.488.8897 and we’ll pop over with plenty of purple-flowering plant picks for you. artistree.com
Category Annual Color, Landscape Design, News, Plant selection, Landscaping Tips