Identify by feature
Shrub or tree with purple or blue flowers: which one is it?
A shrub with purple or lilac flowers is, in gardens, usually a common lilac (May), a butterfly bush (July–September) or a lavender; a climber with long, hanging blue-purple trusses is a wisteria.
18 species with this feature
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Common lilac Syringa vulgaris
Shrub
Large panicles of fragrant flowers in lilac, purple or white (May).
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Butterfly bush Buddleja davidii
Shrub
Long panicles of fragrant purple (or white, pink) flowers, July–September.
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Chinese wisteria Wisteria sinensis
Climber
Hanging racemes of 15–30 cm, bluish-purple and fragrant, in May, before or with the leaves.
Poisonous
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English lavender Lavandula angustifolia
Dwarf shrub
Bluish-purple spikes on long stalks, June–August; bees and bumblebees love them.
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Heather Calluna vulgaris
Dwarf shrub
Small lilac (sometimes white) bells in long spikes, August–September.
Native
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Foxglove tree Paulownia tomentosa
Broadleaf tree
Upright panicles of fragrant, lavender-blue bell flowers in May. The brown, felted buds are ready all winter.
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Judas tree Cercis siliquastrum
Broadleaf tree
Pink to purple pea flowers in clusters on bare twigs, old branches and the trunk, just before the leaves.
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Rosemary Salvia rosmarinus
Dwarf shrub
Pale blue, two-lipped flowers in the leaf axils, March–May, and often again in autumn.
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Hydrangea Hydrangea macrophylla
Shrub
Large heads in pink, blue or white, June–September: blue on acid soil, pink on chalky soil.
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Syrian hibiscus Hibiscus syriacus
Shrub
Large trumpet flowers (6–10 cm) in white, pink, purple or blue, often with a dark centre, from August to October.
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Lesser periwinkle Vinca minor
Dwarf shrub
Bluish-violet (sometimes white or purple) flowers (2–3 cm) with 5 obliquely cut-off lobes, single in the leaf axils, March–May.
NativePoisonous
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Californian lilac Ceanothus
Shrub
Dense clusters of small blue, sometimes white or pink flowers; the evergreen species flower in May–June, the deciduous ones from July to October.
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Common sage Salvia officinalis
Dwarf shrub
Bluish-purple two-lipped flowers (2–3 cm) in whorls on upright spikes, June–July.
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Garden thyme Thymus vulgaris
Dwarf shrub
Small lilac, pink or white two-lipped flowers in whorls at the stem tips, May–July.
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Japanese wisteria Wisteria floribunda
Climber
Hanging racemes of 30–50 cm, violet, pink or white and fragrant, May–June, at the same time as the leaves.
Poisonous
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Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara
Climber
Purple flowers (1–1.5 cm) with swept-back lobes and a yellow cone of anthers, in loose clusters, June–September.
NativePoisonous
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Beautyberry Callicarpa bodinieri
Shrub
Small lilac flowers in dense clusters in the leaf axils, in July–August.
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Magnolia Magnolia
Shrub
Large white, pink or purple tulip- or star-shaped flowers, March–April, before the leaves.
Tip: Look at the month and the shape: panicles in May on lilac, long spikes full of butterflies in summer on butterfly bush, small purple bells on the heath in August on heather.