This week we feature plants at Markham that have a purple flower.
 
Solanum 
This genus includes several showy vines and shrubs. Most will benefit from moderate water but become drought tolerant when established. They can grow in full sun or partial shade. At Markham, we have two kinds of Solanum both of which are either blooming or about to bloom.
 
Solanum rantonnetii - Blue Potato Bush 
This fast growing shrub has bright green leaves and striking blue-violet flowers with gold centers that bloom most of the summer.  It can be grown in containers as a shrub or trained as a small patio tree. Although this plant can grow quite large, some of the ones at Markham already are flowering at less than 6" tall. 
 

Lantana montevidensis - Lavender Trailing Lantana
This is a low growing plant (2 ft high by 3-6 feet wide) suitable for a ground cover. It is a little more cold hardy than some lantanas but will die back in hard freezes. Foliage will be tinged with red in cold temperatures but turns green when it gets warmer.  It has profuse lavender blooms throughout the summer. You can remove the spent flowers to promote flowering and prevent dark berries forming. Drought tolerant and deer resistant.
 
Perovskia

These perennials will grow into upright shrub like plants with purplish blue sprays of flowers in late spring and summer. Prefers full sun. They are drought tolerant requiring little water but need good drainage. Attractive to bees and deer resistant.  We have two somewhat similar varieties at Markham: 'Little Spire' and 'Longin'. Both are more compact than most Russian Sages although Longin is taller and has bigger leaves than Little Spire. Both have silvery gray foliage and the bluish purple flowers common to Russian Sages.