Purples & Blues

Camassia 'Cusickii' is a wonderfully refined naturaliser for those parts of the garden that hold a little moisture. In late spring it rises on upright stems with neat, starry flowers in a clear, azure-blue—an elegant way to thread height and colour through borders, meadow-style planting, and naturalised grass.

Plant in generous drifts for a quietly impressive display that returns each year, settling in steadily and looking increasingly at home as it matures.

• Colour & form: star-shaped, blue-purple flowers held in stately spires
• Where it shines: borders, naturalised grass, meadow-style schemes
• Garden value: pollinator friendly and reliably perennial

Camassia ‘Esculenta Quamash’ is a wonderfully graceful bulb for late spring, sending up refined spires of star-shaped violet-blue flowers above fresh, strap-like green foliage. It lends an effortless, natural air to meadow-style planting, relaxed borders, and lightly wild corners—particularly lovely woven through ornamental grasses and other naturalising favourites.

Dependable, fully hardy, and easy to grow, it settles in quickly and returns year after year, forming neat clumps that look increasingly assured with each season.

Why you’ll love it

• Starry violet-blue blooms held on elegant, upright stems
• Ideal for naturalising, informal drifts, and airy border planting
• Pollinator friendly, with flowers that are welcome in spring gardens
• Excellent structure for cutting gardens, with a poised, long-stemmed look

Planting notes

Plant in autumn for spring flowering. Choose a position in full sun or partial sun, in moist but well-drained loam. For a relaxed, meadow-like effect, plant in generous groups and allow the clumps to build over time.

Camassia 'Maybelle' is a beautifully mannered choice for naturalistic planting—compact in character yet wonderfully luminous in flower. Fresh, linear green foliage rises into neat, upright spires of clear blue blooms with the softest purple nuance, bringing a poised lift to late-spring borders and meadow-style schemes.

Equally at home threaded through grass or grouped in informal drifts, it settles in with quiet ease and returns year after year, offering reliable colour and a welcome pause between early bulbs and summer perennials. The flower spikes also make an elegant cut stem for simple, airy arrangements.

• Refined late-spring colour in clear blue with a gentle purple tint
• Ideal for naturalising through grass, meadows and relaxed borders
• Fully hardy and easy, thriving in moist but well-drained soil
• Pollinator friendly and pleasantly useful as a cut flower

Camassia quamash ‘Orion’ is a quietly striking choice for naturalistic planting, sending up poised spires of deep blue, star-shaped flowers above fresh green foliage. Flowering from May to June, it brings an effortless, meadow-like elegance to borders and lightly shaded edges—particularly where the soil holds a little moisture without becoming waterlogged.

Plant in autumn and allow it to settle; over time it will form handsome clumps and can seed around gently if left undisturbed, lending a relaxed, established feel that suits cottage gardens and contemporary meadow schemes alike.

Camassia 'Zwanenburg' brings a composed, meadow-style elegance to late spring and early summer. Upright, wand-like stems carry tiers of deep blue, star-shaped flowers—particularly handsome drifting through grass, beneath light-canopied trees, or weaving through the middle of a border where a natural, unforced look is prized.

Reliably perennial and wonderfully easy, this Camassia settles in quietly and improves year on year, offering height without heaviness and colour that reads as both cool and richly saturated.

• Flowering: May–June
• Height: 50–100cm
• Best for: Naturalising in grass, meadows, cottage & informal gardens
• Position: Borders, meadows & naturalising in grass; sun or partial shade

For a quietly enchanting start to spring, Chionodoxa forbesii brings neat, starry flowers in an intense blue, each one finished with a crisp white eye. Small in stature yet wonderfully effective, it settles into clumps over time and is particularly handsome when allowed to naturalise—threaded through short grass, tucked into gravel, or dotted along the very front of the border.

Plant in autumn and look forward to a refined haze of early colour from March into April. It is equally charming in containers, where the clear blue reads as distinctly fresh against stone, terracotta, and evergreen foliage.

• Colour: Intense blue with a clear white eye
• Flowering: March–April
• Height (established): 15cm
• Spread: 10cm
• Habit: Clump-forming perennial bulb
• Best for: Naturalising, gravel gardens, containers, underplanting

Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Violet Beauty’ is a most refined little bulb for early spring, sending up neat green leaves followed by starry, pale violet flowers, each softly brightened by a lighter centre. It is particularly lovely naturalised through grass, tucked into gravel, or threaded at the front of borders where its colour reads as a gentle wash rather than a shout.

• Colour: Violet-purple flowers with pale/white centres
• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 15cm
• Habit: Clump-forming; ideal for naturalising
• Best placed: Borders, rockeries, gravel gardens, lawns (naturalising), under shrubs

Plant in autumn and allow it time to settle; within a couple of seasons it will look increasingly assured, returning faithfully and pairing beautifully with early crocus, miniature narcissus and the first primroses.

Crocus 'Aqua' is a refined, early-spring crocus in violet-purple with warm orange centres—just the thing for threading through lawns, gravel and the very front of the border when the garden is beginning to stir again.

Neat, goblet-shaped blooms sit above green foliage marked with a silvery stripe, forming tidy clumps that look particularly smart in pots by the door, scattered through a rockery, or allowed to naturalise beneath deciduous trees.

• Colour: Violet-purple with orange centers
• Best for: Naturalising in lawns, rockery & gravel gardens, pots & containers, and front-of-border detail
• Season: Plant in autumn for flowers from late winter into spring
• Growing level: Easy, fully hardy, and reliably perennial

Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Bird' is a quietly exquisite early-spring crocus: pristine white, goblet-shaped flowers with confident violet streaking to the outer petals, finished with a neat yellow eye. It slips beautifully through lawns and gravel, and is just as poised at the very front of a border or in small pots by the door.

Compact and clump-forming, it returns year after year and is especially charming when planted generously for a natural, painterly effect.

• Flower colour: White with pale purple and yellow accents
• Form: Goblet
• Best for: Lawns & naturalising, rockeries & gravel, borders & beds, pots & containers
• Pollinator friendly: Yes
• Growing skill: Easy

Crocus vernus 'Grand Maitre' is an early spring classic, opening in rich lilac-purple with a deeper purple base and a warm golden centre. It is precisely the sort of small luxury that makes March feel optimistic again—especially when planted in generous drifts through grass, or displayed in pots by the front door where it can be enjoyed at close quarters.

These large-flowering crocus are naturally neat and well-mannered, forming tidy clumps and returning year after year. Plant in autumn and allow them to settle; by their second season they reward with a more confident show.

• Colour: Purple with yellow centre
• Best for: Naturalising in lawns, pots & containers, rockeries and the very front of the border
• Pollinator friendly: Yes

Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant' is a splendid little herald of spring, opening early with rich purple cups that soften elegantly to a paler base. Tucked into short grass, threaded beneath deciduous shrubs, or arranged in pots by the front door, it lends a quietly luxurious lift just when the garden most needs it.

A dependable tommasinianus crocus, it settles in happily and, in time, forms pleasing drifts—ideal for naturalistic planting where you’d like the display to feel effortless and established.

• Colour: Purple with softer, paler base tones
• Best use: Naturalising in lawns & meadows, under shrubs, or in pots and containers
• Flowering: February to March
• Growing skill: Easy

Crocus tommasinianus is one of the most graceful ways to welcome spring. Its lilac-to-rich purple goblet flowers open neatly above slender stems just as the first narrow leaves appear, creating a light, natural-looking display that sits beautifully in lawns, borders and pots.

Plant in autumn and allow it to settle; it will return each year with quiet reliability, offering early colour at ground level and a welcome source of interest in late winter and early spring.

• Colour: Purple (lilac to rich purple tones)
• Best for: Lawns & naturalising, borders, containers, rock gardens, under deciduous trees
• Style: Refined, naturalistic drifts with a delicate, early-season presence

Cyclamen coum is the sort of quietly exquisite plant that earns its keep when the garden feels at its most spare. Nestled low to the ground, it forms neat, clump-forming colonies of rounded, dark green leaves, often handsomely silver-marbled, followed by nodding, starry flowers in pink to purple-pink from mid-winter into early spring.

Superb for naturalising in a woodland-style setting, tucking beneath shrubs, or bringing a little refinement to pots by the door. Given a sheltered position in dappled shade and reliably well-drained soil, it will return each year with increasing presence.

• Season of interest: late winter to early spring
• Perfect for: naturalising, woodland gardens, underplanting shrubs, pots & containers
• Foliage: rounded green leaves, often silver-marbled
• Flower colour: pink to purple-pink (mixed shades)

English bluebells (Hyacinthoides non‑scripta) create one of the most recognisable spring displays: arching stems lined with fragrant, bell‑shaped blooms in deep, woodland blue. They’re a lovely way to bring a natural, British feel to gardens and wild corners.

They’re ideal for naturalising beneath deciduous trees, along shady hedgerows, or at the edge of a border where the soil stays cool. In the right spot, bulbs will spread steadily and form a beautiful carpet over time, returning reliably each spring and filling gaps before summer perennials wake up.

Bluebells prefer humus‑rich, moderately fertile soil that drains well but doesn’t dry out. If your soil is heavy or very sandy, improve it with leaf mould or compost to boost structure and moisture retention, and choose partial shade to keep the ground from baking.

Plant bulbs in autumn about 8cm deep and 8–10cm apart. Leave them undisturbed once planted—bluebells bulk up best when they’re allowed to settle and multiply in place, creating thicker clumps and more flower stems each year.

After flowering, let the foliage die back naturally to feed the bulbs for next year. Bluebells can spread in favourable conditions, so choose a planting area where you’re happy for them to roam and mingle, especially in woodland-style planting, alongside ferns and other shade lovers.

Fritillaria persica 'Adiyaman' is a wonderfully architectural spring bulb, sending up poised, upright stems lined with slender green foliage and finished with a refined spire of nodding, bell-shaped blooms. The colouring sits in the deepest purple-brown, reading almost black in certain light—quietly dramatic, and effortlessly sophisticated.

Plant through autumn for a statement in mixed borders, gravelly schemes, and naturalistic planting where its vertical form brings a sense of intention. Equally handsome in large containers in a sheltered courtyard position, where the flowers can be admired up close.

• Colour: Deep purple (near-black)
• Flower shape: Bell-shaped, nodding
• Height: 50–100cm
• Ideal for: Borders, containers, courtyard gardens, naturalising

Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra' brings unmistakable theatre to the spring border: tall, assured stems crowned with a whorl of glossy green leaves, then finished with a dramatic ring of rich scarlet, bell-shaped blooms topped by a jaunty tuft of leafy bracts. It is a wonderfully architectural choice for naturalistic planting as well as more formal schemes, rising confidently through fresh spring growth.

Plant in autumn in fertile, well-drained loam and choose a sheltered position to protect those statuesque stems. The bulbs are best handled with care and planted deeply for a secure, long-lived display. Once settled, 'Rubra' will reward you year after year, taking a little time to build to its full presence.

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Blue Jacket' brings a wonderfully saturated note to early spring, with dense, fragrant spikes of deep blue, single bells. Each petal is neatly traced with a darker purple stripe, creating a poised, tailored look above fresh, rich green foliage.

Ideal for borders and pots alike, this is a compact hyacinth that looks particularly smart planted in generous drifts, or placed near paths and doorways where the perfume can be properly appreciated. It also makes an excellent cut flower for small, elegant arrangements.

• Colour: Deep blue with dark purple stripe
• Flower form: Bell-shaped, single blooms on sturdy spikes
• Scent: Fragrant
• Best for: Borders, pots and containers, cutting

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Blue Pearl' PBR is a decidedly elegant spring hyacinth, sending up dense, upright spires of waxy, bell-shaped flowers in a vivid blue-purple, each bloom subtly refined with paler edging. As the fragrance unfurls, it brings a welcome sense of occasion to early-season borders and pots alike.

Plant in autumn for a poised display in March and April. Particularly handsome threaded through underplanting, or arranged in generous drifts where the colour can read as a cool, confident ribbon through the garden.

• Colour: blue-purple with lighter blue margins
• Flowering: March–April
• Height: approx. 25cm
• Position: borders, containers, underplanting
• Character: fragrant, pollinator friendly

Please note: This variety is supplied as bulbs for planting. Protect container-grown bulbs from excess winter wet and hard frost.

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Blue Star' is a beautifully traditional spring hyacinth, prized for its dense, perfumed spires in a clear sky-blue, delicately traced with deeper blue veining. Rising neatly above fresh, strap-shaped foliage, it brings a poised, polished note to borders and containers alike.

Plant in autumn and allow the bulbs to settle through winter; come March and April, 'Blue Star' offers a refined flourish that sits particularly well beneath roses and shrubs, or arranged in pots by a doorway where its fragrance can be properly enjoyed.

• Colour: Blue-purple
• Flowering period: March–April
• Height: 25cm
• Best in: borders, pots and containers; sheltered spot

Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Delft Blue’ is a spring classic: neat, glossy green foliage topped with a well-filled spike of softly scented, mid-blue bells. It brings a calm, composed note to the front of the border and is especially charming in pots placed by the door, where the fragrance can be properly enjoyed.

• Colour: mid-blue with a gentle violet cast
• Fragrance: softly scented
• Best for: pots and containers, edging paths, and drift planting for a serene wash of colour
• Hardiness: Fully Hardy

Bulb size: 15/16. Plant in autumn for a polished display in March and April.

Hyacinthus 'Multiflora Blue' is a rather refined take on the classic hyacinth: richly coloured, beautifully perfumed, and notably generous in bloom. This multiflowering selection sends up elegant blue spires that feel perfectly at home in smart pots by the door, or tucked into the front of borders where the scent can be properly appreciated.

Plant in autumn and look forward to a polished display in April. With a naturally tidy habit and dependable performance in Full-Sun or Partial Sun, it’s an easy choice for spring containers and mixed bulb plantings alike.

• Colour: Blue / Purple
• Flowering: April
• Scent: Fragrant
• Best for: Pots & containers, borders, and pollinator-friendly planting

Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Pink Pearl’ is a spring-time classic with an unmistakably refined presence. Broad flower spikes in rich deep pink—softly edged with a paler blush—rise neatly above glossy green foliage, carrying a deliciously heady perfume that feels entirely at home by the front door, along a path, or in smart pots on the terrace.

Plant in autumn and let ‘Pink Pearl’ do the rest: a compact, upright hyacinth that brings poised colour to borders and containers, and a wonderfully scented addition to cut-flower posies indoors.

• Colour: Pink (Pinks & Purples)
• Fragrance: richly fragrant
• Best for: containers, borders & beds, and cutting
• Pollinator friendly: Yes

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Woodstock' brings a quietly dramatic note to early spring: densely packed, bell-shaped florets in a deep plum-purple, carried on sturdy stems above rich green foliage. The perfume is classic hyacinth—sweet, familiar, and wonderfully welcoming near a doorway or along a path.

Plant in autumn for a refined show in March and April. This variety is particularly handsome in pots (where its colour can be appreciated up close), yet equally poised threaded through borders in small drifts. The flower spikes also make excellent, fragrant cut stems for small indoor arrangements.

• Colour: Deep plum-purple
• Scent: Sweetly fragrant
• Style notes: Striking in containers; elegant in borders; excellent for cutting

Ipheion uniflorum ‘Wisley Blue’ is a delightfully refined spring starflower, offering lilac-blue, starry blooms with a gentle fragrance. Sitting neatly above light green, strap-like foliage, it lends itself beautifully to informal drifts through borders, the gravel garden, and quietly charming containers near a doorway or terrace.

Compact and clump-forming, it is particularly well suited to underplanting beneath shrubs and at the woodland edge, where it will settle in and return reliably each year.

• Colour: Lilac-blue
• Flowering: February to April
• Height x spread: 10cm x 10cm
• Hardiness: Fully Hardy
• Position: Full-Sun or Partial Sun
• Soil: Well-drained loam, any pH
• Planting time: September to December
• Supplied as: Bulbs (5/6cm)

Iris × hollandica 'Blue Magic' is a refined Dutch iris, offering rich blue-violet blooms neatly finished with a golden marking. It’s a quietly dependable spring bulb—excellent in sunny borders, smart in pots, and particularly good for cutting, where the clean, architectural lines sit beautifully in a vase.

Plant in autumn and allow it to settle into a free-draining position. In the right conditions it will return well year after year, forming elegant clumps that lift the late-spring garden with crisp colour and poise.

• Colour: Blue/Purple with Yellow
• Flowering: May–June
• Height: 60–85cm
• Best for: borders, pots & containers, cutting, naturalising