Home > Landscaping > Native Plants for Western Washington Gardens and Restoration Projects
Native Plants with Blue, Purple, Violet, or Lavender Flowers
 | Asarum caudatum Wild Ginger Low-growing evergreen perennial that smells strongly of lemon-ginger when crushed. Height: Can grow up to 8 inches (20 cm) tall. The solitary purplish-brown to greenish-yellow flowers occur on 1-3 cm long stalks near ground level and have 3 flaring sepal-like lobes that taper to long points and are fused at the base. Note: flowers are often concealed by leaves. Size: up to 5 cm across; shape: bell-shaped. |
 | Aster chilensis Common California Aster A slender, sprawling perennial that produces light purple flowers. Height: Can grow up to 3 ft. (100 cm.) Each flower has 15-40 lavender to white ray flowers that range from 5-15 mm long with numerous small yellow disk flowers in the center. Each composite flower head is cupped by a green involucral of bracts that are 5-7 mm high and mostly blunt at the tip. The ray flowers of this plant are often mistaken for petals. The center of the flower contains tiny, tubular disk flowers. |
 | Aster ciliolatus Lindley's Aster, Fringed Aster This aster usually has one, central flower stalk and several large, almost heart-shaped, basal leaves. Height: Grows from 1 to 4 feet (0.3 to 1.2 meters) tall. This plant produces numerous flower heads that have pointed-slender and smooth involucral bracts with sparsely firm-haired edges. Ciliolatus means hair-like. Primary color: ray flowers are blue-violet and disk flowers are reddish-purple (Clark, 528); size: flowers range from 1/2 to 1 inch across; Each head contains approximately 14 ray flowers and 20-35 disk flowers. |
 | Aster modestus Great Northern Aster A tall, much-branched perennial with numerous heads of purplish flowers. Height: Grows up to 40 inches (100 cm). Each flowerhead contains 20-45 very narrow ray flowers surrounding a center of numerous disk flowers. Ray flowers are violet or purple; disk flowers are yellow to greenish. Beneath the flowers are the involucres - narrowly lance-shaped, spotted bracts that range between 7-11 mm high. Note: The bracts have small glands. |
 | Aster subspicatus Douglas Aster Rhizomatous perennial wildflower with much-branched stems and light purple aster-like flower heads. Height: Grows up to 32 inches (80 cm). Ray flowers are blue to purple and disk flowers are yellow. Size: ray flowers are 1-2 cm long. A distinguishing characterisitic of Douglas aster is its thick overlapping bracts beneath each flower head. Also, outer margins of thegracts have a thin, transparent (waxy/papery) look. |
 | Brodiaea congesta Harvest Lily Long slender stems to 3 feet (1 meter) in length topped by a dense cluster of deep purple flowers. Height: Up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall. Flowers appearing tight clusters at stem tips after the leave have withered. Primary color is deep purple; size: 4 cm (1.5 in). |
 | Camassia leitchlinii Great Camas Stately perennial from a deep bulb, producing spikes of large blue flowers in early spring. Height: Up to 28 inches (70 cm). 5 or more deep blue (rarely white) flowers in a long terminal spike; the tepals (petals) of the great camas eventually twist together to cover and protect the fruit which distinguishes it from the common camas; anthers are dull yellow/violet; size: 3.5 cm (1.4 in) long. |
 | Camassia quamash Common Camas Bulbous perennial producing a spike of large blue flowers. Height: Up to 28 inches (70 cm). 5 or more pale to deep blue (rarely white) flowers in terminal spike, the common camas has five tepals curved upwards and the 6th curved downward; anthers are bright yellow. Size: 3.5 cm (1.4 in) across. |
 | Campanula rotundifolia Harebell Delicate stems topped by large, nodding bell-shaped blue flowers. Height: 4-32 inches (10-80 cm). Large, nodding bell-shaped blue or purplish-blue flowers (rarely white); sepals hairy at fused base with awl-shaped lobes; 5 fused petals. Flowers single several on thin, wiry stalks atop stem. Size: 1.5-3 cm (.6-1 in) long. |
 | Festuca rubra Red Fescue Perennial grass with thread-like leaves forming small patches. Height: Can grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. Violet-colored panicles on purple stems; each spikelet 3/8-1/2" long. |
 | Fritillaria lanceolata Chocolate Lily, Rice Root Rare herb to 80 cm tall from bulb with numerous rice-like bulblets; flowers are mottled maroon and yellow. Height: Up to 32 inches (80 cm). Flowers dark purple or maroon with greenish-yellow mottled spots giving a brown appearance overall, nodding, single or in clusters of 2-5, terminal; size: 4 cm (1.5 in) long; shape: bell shaped. |
 | Gilia capitata Globe Gilia Upright taprooted annual with large ball-like heads of blue flowers. Height: Up to 3 feet (1 meter). Small, stalkless, and numerous in dense, bractless, ball-shaped heads at tips of stems and branches; primary color: light-blue; each flower is 6-10 mm long. |
 | Iris tenax Oregon Iris Clumped, perennial iris with large purple flowers. Height: Up to 16 inches (40 cm). Sepals and petals to 6 cm (2.5 in) long; 1-2 flowers on each flowering stems; primary color: blue to purple with yellow/white highlights. |
 | Lonicera hispidula Hairy Honeysuckle Clamboring vine with clusters of light purple tubular flowers. Height: Up to 33 feet (10 meters) in trees. Tubular flowers 1-2 cm long, pinkish-purple or rarely almost white. |
 | Lupinus polyphyllus Large-leaved Lupine A large perennial native forb with spikes of blue flowers from one to many hairy stems. Height: 3-6 feet (1-2 meters). Shaped like a pea flower; flower stalks are short; primary color: bluish-purple, brown with age; vary from pale blue to dark violet or purple; occasionally all-white; arranged in spikes 12-28 inches long along upper section of main stem. |
 | Mentha arvensis Field Mint A wild mint with small groups of light purple flowers in the leaf axils. Flower color: purple. |
 | Nothochelone nemorosa Woodland Penstemon Flower color: pink,purple. |
 | Olsynium douglasii Satin Flower, Grass Widow Showy tufted perennial resembling a miniature iris topped with large pink to purple flowers. Height: Up to 12 inches (30 cm). Satiny in appearance, usually 2 terminal flowers above leaf-like bracts; primary color: pinkish-purple; size: 4 cm (1.5 in); shape: 6 large oval petals. |
 | Penstemon davidsonii Davidson's Penstemon Low mat-forming perennial with small evergreen leaves and large blue-purple tubular flowers. Height: 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) tall. Large blue-purple tubular flowers 1-3 cm long. |
 | Penstemon fruticosus Lowbush Penstemon Spreading shrub with numerous tubular purple flowers. Height: Up to 40 cm (1.5 ft) tall. Large tubular purple flowers are produced in late spring or early summer, in spikes of 3-10 at tops of stems. |
 | Penstemon serrulatus Coast Penstemon Perennial, sprawling sub-shrub from a woody stem base, with large purple tubular flowers at stem tips. Height: 8-28 inches (20-70 cm). Hairless, deep blue to dark purple tubular flowers on short stalks in 1 to several compact clusters at stem tips; 4 fertile stamens; size: 17-25 mm long. |
 | Polemonium pulcherrimum Showy Jacob's-ladder Taprooted perennial with mostly basal leaves and blue bell-shaped flowers. Height: Up to 14 inches (35 cm). Blue with yellow centers, showy, bell-shaped, 7-13 mm long and as wide; petals rounded at tip; in crowded clusters at top of stems. |
 | Potentilla palustris Marsh Cinquefoil Perennial from long, creeping, often floating, somewhat woody rhizomes, with small maroon flowers. Height: Ip to 3 feet (1 meter). Strikingly reddish-purple, bowl-shaped, about 2 cm across; sepals and petals 5; stamens and ovaries numerous; few to several in loose terminal clusters. |
 | Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata Self Heal Fibrous-rooted perennial from short rhizome or stem-base with small purple flowers. Height: Up to 20 inches (50 cm). 1 cm long; sepals in 2-lipped, spine-tipped tube; petals a 2-lipped tube, upper lip hooded, bonnet-like, lower lip 3 lobed, center lobe fringed, 4 stamens; primary color: Purplish to pink, occasionally white; shape: snapdragon-like, in cluster. |
 | Sisyrinchium idahoense Blue-eyed Grass A small clump-forming iris-like plant with small blue flowers. Height: 28 inches (40 cm). Terminal cluster of 1-5 flowers above a pair of sheathing, leaf-like bracts, petals wilt and shrivel shortly after picking; primary color: blue to bluish-purple with a yellow "eye"; size: 2 cm; shape: 6 symmetrical petals, circular. |
 | Trillium ovatum Western Trillium Short stout stems topped with a whorl of three leaves and a single large white flower. Height: 12-18 inches (30-45 cm). The solitary flower has three white petals 2.5-5 cm long by 1.8-4.5 cm wide, with 6 fuzzy yellow stamens and three green sepals beneath. The petals turn pink to purple with age. |
 | Viola adunca Early-blue Violet A blue flowered violet that grows from slender rhizomes and is stemless in the early season, later grow upright stem. Height: Up to 4 inches (10 cm). Flowers have slender spur which is half as long as lowest petal; the lower 3 petals often have a whitish base or whitish highlights, the lateral pair of petals are white-bearded; primary color: blue to deep violet; size: 1.5 cm long. |
The landscaping and restoration information provided on this page is taken from the Starflower Foundation Image Herbarium. All photographs © Starflower Foundation unless otherwise noted.