Suppose you’re looking to add a splash of colourful elegance to your home garden or outdoor landscape. In that case, purple flowering trees are a fantastic choice. These trees offer countless benefits, especially those with limited space or square footage. Whether working with a small yard or a spacious area, adding purple, violet, or lavender hues can transform your garden into a vibrant paradise. There’s no doubt that these trees can brighten any outdoor space, providing both beauty and shade during spring and beyond.
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One of the most popular choices for these flowering trees is the Jacaranda, often found in neighbourhoods or nurseries like Moon Valley Nurseries. Their blossoms are a true highlight; many homeowners enjoy seeing them while driving around their local areas. The pros of planting these trees are clear: they bring an attractive addition to your yard and create a refreshing escape, especially during the warmer months. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting, these trees can meet the gardening needs of any outdoor space.
Top 15 Purple Flowering Trees
Mountain Laurel Tree (Sophora secundiflora)
The Mountain Laurel is a beautiful tree native to Texas and Central regions. It is perfect for adding a pop of colour to your yard. Known for being drought-tolerant and thriving in rocky and limestone soil, it’s an ideal choice for areas with limited space.
The tree blooms in spring, producing 3-7″ long violet-blue flowers with a distinct scent similar to artificial grapes or Kool-Aid. Its glossy leaves and showy appearance make it perfect for a sunny patio or front entryway. This small tree does well in warm, bright, and arid environments and is an excellent choice for water-wise landscapes.
Lavender Twist (Cecis canadensis’ Covey’)
The Lavender Twist is an elegant weeping tree that brings charm to small spaces. Its branches gracefully twist and contort into a twiggy, umbrella-shaped canopy filled with lavender-pink flowers in the spring.
It thrives in USDA hardiness zones 5-9, enjoying full sun and requiring regular watering and annual feeding. This short tree attracts birds and butterflies to its purple blooms, making it a favourite for gardens looking for a delicate yet striking addition. The Lavender Twist is perfect for smaller yards, offering beauty and resilience, especially in areas with ample sunlight.
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Jacaranda Tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia)
The Jacaranda is often regarded as the queen of purple flowering trees. It thrives in tropical environments like South Florida and does well in USDA zones 9b-11. While it can start indoors when it’s young, it eventually needs to be moved outside because it can grow up to 50 feet tall.
This tree blooms twice a year, in late spring and fall, with enchanting fairy tale clusters of purple flowers and delicate fernlike foliage. However, its fallen blooms can cover the lawn and begin to decompose, requiring occasional cleanup. The Jacaranda prefers full sun and sandy soil. However, it is sensitive to salt, so it’s unsuitable for areas near the ocean.
Korean Lilac Tree (Syringa pubescens)
The Korean Lilac Tree is a beautiful alternative to the Jacaranda, especially for those in colder regions. This petite tree reaches up to 10 feet tall and is well-suited for USDA zones 4-8. It blooms a few weeks after other lilacs, producing lovely lavender-pink, tubular flowers in the spring.
The tree is known for being highly adaptable, tolerating cold and road salt, and flourishing in full sun with occasional rain. For gardeners seeking a viable option in non-tropical climates, the Korean Lilac offers beautiful blooms. It requires minimal care, making it an excellent choice for various environments.
Vitex Tree (Vitex agnus-castus)
The Vitex tree, also known as the Chaste Tree, brings a stunning display to any landscape with its grey-green foliage and terminal clusters of fragrant lilac blooms. This fast-growing tree is small-to-medium sized, perfect for gardens or patios. Its beauty is undeniable, mainly when its flowering canopy attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
With its twisting trunks, the deciduous tree’s multi-trunk structure creates a unique and statuesque appearance, adding elegance to any bright and open space. Whether used in a garden or as a focal point on a patio, its colourful, flowering canopy always impresses.
Royal Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa)
The Royal Empress Tree is often called the Princess Tree due to its regal presence. Native to Russia, its bright green leaves and large, velvety purple-pink flowers make it a standout. The flowers are known for their vanilla fragrance, and the tree’s thick, dense canopy provides ample shade. However, it can compete with other plants beneath it, so careful placement is necessary.
In states like North Carolina, it’s classified as an invasive species, so it’s essential to check with local authorities before planting. Despite this, its striking appearance and mature size make it a popular choice in larger landscapes.
Purple Robe Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
The Purple Robe Locust is a large flowering tree with reddish-green leaves that can grow up to 40 feet tall. It blooms in early summer and produces fragrant, wisteria-like flowers in the spring.
This tree thrives in USDA hardiness zones 4-8 and prefers full sun and rich soils. It is drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, and its protective thorns make it perfect for planting along streets or in challenging landscapes. However, care should be taken when pruning, as it can cause bleeding from the tree.
Silk Floss Tree (Ceiba speciosa)
The Silk Floss Tree is known as one of the strangest trees in the world. It can reach up to 60 feet tall and has an umbrella-like canopy. In the fall, it sheds leaves and begins to bloom, showing off showy pink and purple flowers that seem straight out of a fairy tale.
Besides its beauty, the Silk Floss Tree has practical uses—its wood can be made into canoes, pulp, and paper, while its bark can be braided into rope. Even its seeds can be pressed to produce vegetable oil. It thrives in USDA zones and can be a unique addition to any garden.
Purple Leaf Plum (Prunus cerasifera ‘Krauter Vesuvius’)
The Purple Leaf Plum is a deciduous tree known for its showy light pink flowers that bloom in the spring. Its remarkable dark purple foliage makes it a stunning colour accent in small yards. This tree draws attention when planted in pairs along gateways, driveways, orchard-like rows.
Its bold and beautiful colour makes a lasting statement whether used as a privacy screen or an ornamental plant. The Purple Leaf Plum is a standout addition to any landscape, perfect for front yards.
Purple Lily Magnolia Tree (Magnolia liliiflora)
With over 240 species of magnolia trees, the Purple Lily Magnolia stands out with its pink flowers and compact form. This smaller magnolia, native to Asia and the Himalayas, grows up to 60 feet tall and is ideal for planting as a hedge or specimen plant in a backyard.
Thriving in USDA Zones 5-8, it reaches a height and spread of 8-12 feet at maturity. Its versatility makes it an excellent choice for those looking for a beautiful addition to their garden without taking up too much space.
Magnolia (Magnolia soulangeana)
The Magnolia ‘Royal Purple’ is a stunning cultivar of the saucer magnolia, known for its large white and purple blooms that can grow up to eight inches across. It reaches 30 feet tall and forms a rounded canopy, providing beauty and shade to any garden.
This tree thrives in moist, acidic, well-draining soil and prefers full sun or partial shade. It’s important to protect it from strong winds and be mindful of southern exposure, as artificial warmth can cause the buds to open too early in the spring, leaving them vulnerable to damage.
Crape Myrtle Tree (Lagerstroemia)
The Crape Myrtle Tree, native to China and Korea, is a beautiful and resilient option for warm climates. Known for being heat-tolerant and drought-tolerant, it’s a favourite in the South. This tree, also called crepe myrtle or crepe myrtle, comes in dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard varieties, making it suitable for various landscapes.
It grows best in USDA Growing Zones 6-10, reaching a height of 10-30 feet and a spread of 6-15 feet at maturity. Its adaptability and stunning blooms make it a standout choice for any garden.
Takasago Flowering Cherry (Prunus sieboldii)
The Takasago Flowering Cherry is a beautiful Japanese Cherry tree known for its delicate lavender flowers and bronze foliage. It grows 20 feet tall with a low canopy that only clears about two feet from the ground. This tree blooms with white and pink flowers, making it a stunning addition to any landscape.
Thriving in USDA hardiness zone 5b, it is tolerant of city pollution and can be planted under power lines. The Takasago Cherry can live up to 50 years with proper care and maintenance, adding long-lasting beauty to your yard.
Purple Wisteria Tree (Wisteria sinensis)
The Purple Wisteria Tree is one of the most recognizable purple-flowered trees, growing up to 15 feet high. Its striking bluish-purple blooms hang in long clusters from the vines during the summer, creating a magical appearance in any garden.
This tree thrives in USDA hardiness zones 5-9 and is highly adaptable, drought-tolerant, and deer-resistant. Its resistance to many diseases makes it easy to grow. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, making it an excellent choice for those who want to add a splash of vibrant colour to their garden.
Fragrant Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
The Fragrant Lilac is technically a shrub, but it can grow quite large, especially in the spring and summer when its bright green foliage gives way to lavender and purple flowers. Over 200 cultivars of this species exist, some of which can grow tall while others remain more compact.
It thrives in USDA hardiness zones 4-7 and prefers full sun and well-draining soil. Known for its tightly packed flower clusters, the Fragrant Lilac is a beautiful addition to any garden, filling the air with its lovely scent.
Final Observation
Adding purple flowering trees to your yard is a brilliant way to infuse vibrant color and natural elegance into your outdoor space. Whether you prefer the enchanting blooms of the Jacaranda, the Vitex’s resilience, or the Lavender Twist’s dainty charm, there’s a perfect tree for every garden. These stunning trees enhance your landscape with shades of lavender, violet, and lilac attract wildlife, provide shade, and elevate the overall aesthetic. Transform your garden into a picturesque paradise with these beautiful purple flowering trees.
FAQs
What is the name of the tree with the purple flowers?
The Jacaranda tree is commonly known for its purple flowers.
What is the purple flowering tree in Oregon?
In Oregon, the purple flowering tree is often the Purple Robe Locust.
What are the purple flowering trees in Ohio?
In Ohio, Eastern Redbud and Fragrant Lilac trees have purple flowers.
What is the purple flower tree in Florida?
The Jacaranda tree is the most common purple flowering tree in Florida.
What is the use of violet tree?
The violet tree is often used for ornamental purposes, adding colour and beauty to landscapes and attracting wildlife like butterflies.
What is the name of the Princess Tree?
The Princess tree is known as Paulownia tomentosa.
