Perennials with purple flowers

[Feawen]

I’m the gardener in our household, though I’m more experienced with fruit and veg than flowers. As such I’ve been the one to plant up our garden, and have followed my own tastes, which are for a relaxed cottage garden with lots of scented flowers in pinks, whites and lilacs, as well as lots of edibles.

My partner likes flowers with a rich purple colour. He picked out a Senetti pericallis violet bicolour at the garden centre last year, and was very disappointed to find out it’s an annual in our climate and hasn’t returned this year

Please could you recommend your favourite purple flowers that come back every year? He likes strong colours, not lavender or heathers etc.

Here are some “proper purple” flowers. I’ve added the varieties I grow where relevant as some of these plants come in all kinds of different colours:

Iris Superstition
Aquilegia
Geranium Brookeside
Clematis The President
Salvia Amistad

There are some lovely purple geraniums which look lovely in cottage gardens. Delphiniums you can find in deep purple/blue too. Ceanothus is more blue usually but there are some purple-er varieties out there. Verbena bonariensis is lovely and purple, a few purple salvias also and aquilegia are a personal favourite too. I’m also a purple fan!

There are masses of different types of campanula.
Also ageratum and aubretia come in shadows of purple, as do viola as you've discovered.
You could also go for some purple leafed plants like oxalis or heuchera.

Campanula glomerata

Aquilegia have got an enthusiastic response and would certainly suit the existing style, so I think I’ll start there. Good call!

Oh, more replies appeared after I posted. I’ll have a look at some campanulas as well :)

Don’t forget alliums! Bulbs rather than perennials per se, but same effect and more impact that almost anything else. I adore alliums. Purple sensation is the obvious “true purple”.

Erysimum Bowles Mauve, perennial wallflower flowers for most of the year.

Thanks NeedingCoffee, I am actually planning to get some alliums in Autumn along with other bulbs, but hadn’t seen any as purple as purple sensation! Cheers :)

Cerinthe - sometimes perennial, sometimes annual but it self seeds

Phlox paniculata - eg The King

Centaurea - eg Jordy

Lots of clematis - someone upthread suggested The President, and I have Polish Spirit

This verbena bonariensis special offer fell into my basket too. After the recommendation from NoParticularPattern it seemed meant to be!

Allium
Phlox

I have lots of purple flowers but most are a pale purple rather than a ‘strong’, by which I assume you mean a dark, Cadbury type purple?

Pale purples I have:

• lavender
• scabious
• campanula takion blue
• California lilac
• Hebe
• malling toadflax
• verbena bonariensis
• rose blue for you
• Hosta

Then the darker purples I have

• Jacobs ladder
• ajuga; though it’s more blue/purple
• primrose
• centaurea Montana
• campanula portenschlagiana

Oh and erysium Bowles mauve and chives I have too; both paler purples.
The erysium are darker than chives but still not what I would call a deep, rich purple.

Re aquilegia, whenever I have grown this it has gradually died out and been replaced by self seeding with the ‘wild’ colour form.
It’s pretty enough but not purple.
A sort of dirty pink.

We've got some lupins that are a strong purple. I'd also consider purply foliage too, like a purple smokebush - cotinus - and sambucus nigra which is an elderflower and some varieties of acer. They look spectacular set off by pale greens and the smokebush has fantastic orange leaves in autumn.

Have a look at Calliocarpa bodinieri “Profusion” as well for bright purple berries in winter! They’re top of my wish list for when we get our new garden, saw them at RHS Hyde Hall and they looked magnificent especially next to bright red/yellow dogwood stems.

There are some stunning purple roses and clemetis that will complement a cottage garden style.Also what about purple pots/planters?

Don't forget purple kale..

Geranium Johnson’s Blue has just flowered this year in my garden & it’s a beautiful vivid violet. It’s a good one for shade.

I have a very vivid purple Aubretia, also there's some really purple Fuschias.

So many purple . Thank you

You really MUST put Verbena Bonariensis in your garden!!!! Really tall, lots of purple flowers and long lasting.

I got plug plants from an online nursery last year, potted them up and they were absolutely fabulous. Sway in the wind, are eye catching!!!

Purple rhododendron. The shrub is evergreen, which I love.
But maybe you’re after more of a wildflower.
Salvia caradonna is beautiful!