Bushes with drooping groups of blossoms stick out against green backgrounds attracting attention of garden guests. Purple is also used as contrast with bright orange and pink colours, which cool down a hot colour scheme. To recognize a purple-flowering tree, then begin with matching up the height of the tree with the season.
Low-Growing Bushes
Low-growing bushes are used as groundcover, protecting the soil for wind and rain erosion. Clusters of purple flowers droop across the prostrate stems of the shrubs. One example is the “Cha Cha” bat face cuphea ( Cuphea llavea “Cha Cha”), which grows as an evergreen shrub in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. Masses of purple flowers with white markings appear from spring through autumn on drooping 16-inch-long branches. These blooms attract hummingbirds into the area. “Mardi Gras” crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia “Mardi Gras”) grows best in USDA zones 5 through 9 as a deciduous tree reaching 1 to 3 feet tall and wide. The purple flowers with yellow centres cluster together and droop across the branches of the miniature weeping bush.
Medium-Sized Shrubs
Medium-sized bushes are generally planted along buildings as foundation shrubs. They hide utility entries and boxes under buildings. “Little Buddy” bush clover (Lespedeza bicolor “Little Buddy”) grows as a deciduous plant in USDA zones 4 through 8, reaching 3 feet tall and wide. The pealike blossoms cluster together in 5-inch-long groups, which droop off the stem tips throughout the summer. “Santa Barbara” Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha “Santa Barbara”) creates purple-blue flowers on weeping stems from spring through autumn in USDA zones 9 through 11. The evergreen aromatic leaves fill the backyard with powerful scents when disturbed. This variety of sage bush reaches 3 feet tall and wide, attracting hummingbirds into the yard.
Big Shrubs
Big shrubs with cascading purple blooms frequently act as focal points in a garden. These multistemmed plants grow to about the size of a small tree. “Profusion” beautyberry (Callicarpa bodinieri “Profusion”) creates small purplish-pink flower clumps in the summertime on a 6-foot-tall deciduous tree in USDA zones 5 through 8. Clusters of purple berries follow the flowers in autumn, attracting feeding birds into the bush. Another larger tree is that the increased acacia (Robinia hispida), which grows well in USDA zones 5 through 8, reaching around 10 feet tall with purple flowers clustering together, forming pendulous racemes 2 to 4 inches long. This deciduous shrub can be trained into a small tree type.
Tree-Like Shrubs
Tree-like shrubs are extremely big and could be pruned to your single-stem plant resembling a small tree. If the tree looks like a tree with several stems, it might be the “Big Blue” lilac tree (Syringa vulgaris “Big Blue”), which creates strong, fragrant clusters of purple flowers in USDA zones 4 through 9. The weight of the blossoms produces the branches droop on this 12-foot-tall deciduous tree. These flower spikes are great for cutting filling any room with fragrance. Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) isn’t a real tree, but a 15- to 25-foot-tall deciduous shrub with fragrant purple clusters appearing from the summertime. These terminal clusters form spikes, which bend over and droop in USDA zones 5 through 9. This plant attracts butterflies and grows well in coastal conditions.