Prince charming
From French lavender to Phormium ‘Dazzler’, the colour purple rocks, writes David Overend.
Purple may not be the first colour that springs to mind when it comes to garden plants and flowers. But it plays its part – it plays a big part. Take, for example, Stoechas lavenders, also known as French (or Spanish lavenders), easily recognisable by their tufty little flowerheads which appear a lot earlier than their English counterpart.
French lavender looks wonderful in containers sited in the sunniest spot in the garden. It doesn’t need a lot of water and it doesn’t need feeding – just deadhead regularly and things should be fine.
Come pruning time, great care needs to be taken – as with established English lavender, never cut into the bare wood. The cleaner the cut, the better.
And then there’s Heuchera micrantha “Palace Purple”, a showy perennial for ground cover, borders, and containers.
It’s hardy, non-invasive, produces deep red-purple/purple foliage and needs very little care or maintenance.
It does best in sun but it will tolerate shade, although its foliage will lose some of its lustre. Give it a decent soil and it will be happy to go on growing for years.
Berberis thunbergii is a different beast entirely – a vigorous, attractive one, but one covered with thousands of small, purple leaves and spines.
In autumn, the foliage starts to take on a speckled, pinkish hue before the leaves finally turn orange and fall.
Many people plant hedges of the stuff – it grows into a wonderful stockproof barrier and it’s a great deterrent to trespassers. Berberis thunbergii does best in a well-drained soil and in a sunny spot. Regular pruning (wear thick gloves) is recommended.
Among the larger purple plants are the likes of that wonderful New Zealand flax, Phormium “Dazzler”, which can reach a good yard in height. It’s evergreen, has striped pink and purple leaves and is a wonderful background plant for beds and borders.
Sambucus nigra is the common form of elder but now there are purple forms, such as “Black Beauty” and “Black Lace”, which have become eye-catching additions to the cultivated garden. They like decent soil and, if possible, plenty of sun.
Imperata cyclindrica “Rubra” is a lovely grass whose leaves turn red from the tips down. It’s reasonably tough and slightly more unusual than the run-of-the-mill purple plants.
Other purples? Well, there is the common teasel, wonderful ornamental onions, salvias, catmint, buddleias, hebes, some clematis and even wisteria and gorgeous bearded iris.