A Bush With Purple Flowers & Skinny Green Leaves
Varying hues of green foliage and vibrant purple flowers create a dramatic contrast in the backyard. Skinny leaves, also known as lanceolate or even lance-shaped, lend a delicate appearance to trees, while the many hues of purple, which range from lavender to nearly black, create a dramatic counterbalance. Perhaps that’s why both appear to go together so frequently — many plants produce this attractive combination.
Butterfly Bush
One of the many kinds of butterfly bushes, the cultivars “Black Knight” (Buddleja davidii “Black Knight”) and “Guinevere” (Buddleja davidii “Guinevere”) possess both scrawny green leaves and purple flowers. Deciduous to semi-evergreen shrubs, they grow best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. The purple blossoms of the “Guinevere” grow in spikes, while the “Black Knight” produces showy displays of dark purple blossoms. They grow best in bright garden locations and, as its name implies, are attractive to butterflies.
Lavender
Lavender (lavandula) is an herbaceous perennial shrub that produces stalks of flowers which range from light to dark purple, depending on the cultivar. Its gray-green lanceolate foliage is often used in oils, sachets and soaps because of the striking fragrance. Favoring sunny locations, the semi-evergreen to evergreen purple bush, which does best in USDA zones 5 to 9, grows tall enough to be formed into a hedge, or can be kept low enough to make garden borders.
Lilac
Lilac Melaleuca (Melaleuca decussata), also known as the cross-leaf honey-myrtle or totem pole, is an evergreen shrub or tree located in USDA zones 9 and 10. It produces skinny blue-green leaves and showy purple or purple flowers. The Chinese lilac (Syringa × chinensis), which grows in USDA zones 5 to 8, is a deciduous shrub or tree with moderate to dark green lanceolate leaves and fragrant purple or rose-colored flowers. Each grows best in full sun.
Myoporum
Common Boobialla (Myoporum insulare), Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) and also the waterbush (Myoporum acuminatum), also known as pointed Boobialla, are just three of over 30 species of myoporum. Members of the figwort family, these varieties grow as shrubs or small trees with glossy lance-shaped leaves and sweetly fragrant purplish-pink or white flowers. Drought-tolerant evergreens native to Australia, the Pacific Islands and China, they grow best under full sun in USDA zones 8 and 9.