Gardener Garbage – Purple is in the eye of the beholder

The red ones were easy to sort. True yellow flowers were a little difficult to find.

But purple? In my eyes, many of the purple-colored plants are more common in the blue family.

According to Wikipedia, purple “refers to any color between red and blue … close to red, purple and violet to blue”. So, on the color wheel, my eyes see purple on the red side, in contrast to the blue on the blue side.

I did not think there were many purple or shady trees around us, but a quick search for the agi garden is much more detailed. Vitex or pure tree blooms in summer and has purple-blue flowers. The Texas A&M Agrillif Extension notes that although the tree is not native, it is natural and super-star in our state.

Another tree that may have simple violet flowers is the Texas Willow Willow. According to Aggi Garden, the tree is native to “Western Texas and Edwards Plato” and its flowers are based on rain. And don’t forget to scratch the strawberries. I have two catabs, and they are good mid-summer blooms.

It is a native plant that can absorb heat and dry weather by moving the scale down. Texas A&M agripe extension is sometimes called a “barometer shrub” because it blooms in the wet or high humidity after rain.

I recently found a small shrub with a purple skull (Cautella wrightii). A native of Mexico and Texas, this purple flower grows into a small mound about one foot tall and wide and blooms in early spring to summer.

A few of the most famous people in the area are Durantta, some butterfly bushes (Buddilia), and black horse carapace. Although the flowers are not attractive, the Bird Johnson Wildflower Center says the American beauty strawberry “has a bright, shiny purple bunch that embraces its branches in autumn and winter.”

The Salvia family is very large, with many species of purple-ish flowers. One of the most famous was Henry Dowelberg Salvia. It is the flower of the Texas Super Star and the summer flower. It is very easy to grow, but it spreads rapidly.

Another Texas superstar is a Mexican bush sage. This annual has what I consider to be true purple flowers. The plant creates huge mounds and is not invasive.

The real purple Salvia is Amstad. Keith Hansen, posting to his East Texas garden site, says the flowers have a wow factor: “Almost rich purple flowers from black calyx.” I have some of these in my garden and they are really purple. They create a mound that you can control and can be up to 4 feet high. Purple Salvia is plentiful, and the internet will show you the various purple sages available for quick search.

Other species of purple include iris – Dutch, Siberian and bearded. If you are looking for a vine, Whistler is a big vine growing in this area. There are also many pink roses on the market. I have one species called plum. It has purple-purple flowers and blooms freely.

According to Wikipedia, there are “many shades of purple.” So, when choosing plants for your purple, you may have to choose which side you like.