Plants that bloom in May in Zone 5 with purple flowers

Ajuga

Bronze-purple foliage with blue spikes. Fills bare shade in one season.

Allium

Dramatic globe-shaped heads on tall stems. Architectural and deer-proof.

Aubrieta

Purple cascades spilling over walls and rocks in spring. Shear after bloom for a fresh flush of foliage.

Azalea

Explosive spring color in every warm hue. Acid-loving woodland classic.

Bloom-a-Thon Azalea

Repeat-blooming azalea with waves of color spring through fall. Evergreen in mild climates.

Bloomerang Lilac

Blooms in spring, then reblooms summer through frost. Compact habit with classic lilac fragrance.

Blue False Indigo

Lupine-like spikes on a native that lives forever. Gets better with age.

Caradonna Salvia

Dark purple stems set this apart from every other salvia. Vertical, architectural, electric.

Cat's Meow Catmint

Tidy, dome-shaped habit that never flops open. Stays compact without shearing.

Catmint

Billowy lavender-blue haze that blooms all season if you shear it back.

Chives

Cheerful purple pom-pom flowers on a kitchen staple. Edible blooms make any salad Instagram-worthy.

Clematis

The queen of flowering vines. Over 300 species, something for every spot.

Columbine

Delicate, spurred flowers that dance on wiry stems. Hummingbird favorite.

Creeping Phlox

An evergreen sun-loving groundcover that smothers walls, slopes, and rock gardens in dense pink, purple, blue, lavender, or white sheets every April and May.

Culinary Sage

Spiky purple blooms above silver-green aromatic foliage. A kitchen herb that doubles as an ornamental.

Dutch Iris

Slender stems bear elegant iris blooms in late spring to early summer.

Foxglove

Stately spires of spotted, bell-shaped flowers. Cottage garden royalty.

Fritillaria

Checkered, nodding bells with an otherworldly pattern. A collector's favorite.

Grape Hyacinth

Tiny grape-like clusters that spread into rivers of blue over time.

Impatiens

The shade annual champion. Flowers prolifically where nothing else will.

Iris

Elegant sword-leaved perennials with intricate, ruffled blooms.

Lilac

Intensely fragrant clusters that define spring in northern gardens.

Lupine

Dramatic spikes in every color. Short-lived but self-seeds generously.

Magnolia

Goblet-shaped blooms on bare branches. One of spring's most dramatic moments.

May Night Salvia

Perennial Plant of the Year. Dense indigo-violet spikes that rebloom if deadheaded.

Meadow Rue

Fluffy puffs of bloom on tall, airy stems above columbine-like foliage. Light and ethereal.

Native Spiderwort

Three-petaled flowers in blue-purple open fresh each morning on a tough native that blooms for weeks and seeds freely.

Penstemon

Tubular flowers on upright stems. Native hummingbird magnet for dry gardens.

Petunia

Cascading color for containers and beds. Blooms nonstop until frost.

Queen of Night Tulip

The darkest tulip. Satiny, near-black maroon blooms that look almost unreal in late spring.

Rhododendron

Big, bold trusses of bloom over glossy evergreen foliage.

Rocky Mountain Penstemon

Spikes of deep blue tubular flowers rise above glossy evergreen foliage in early summer.

Rozanne Geranium

Violet-blue saucer flowers on a sprawling mound that blooms from late spring until frost. The most awarded perennial geranium in history.

Salvia

Vertical flower spikes that hummingbirds and bees cannot resist.

Sensation Lilac

Unique bicolor blooms with purple petals edged in white. A head-turner in any spring garden.

Snapdragon

Vertical flower spikes with squeeze-open blooms. Kids love them.

Speedwell

Tidy spikes of blue that add vertical punch to the front of the border.

Sweet Alyssum

Honey-scented carpet of tiny flowers. The best living edging plant.

Sweet Pea

Ruffled, intensely fragrant climbing flowers in every pastel shade. Cool-season annual that hates heat.

The President Clematis

Big, rich violet-blue flowers with silvery reverse petals rebloom through the season on a vigorous, reliable plant.

Tulip

The classic spring icon in almost every color imaginable.

Vinca

Evergreen mat with periwinkle-blue flowers. Tough shade ground cover.

Wild Geranium

Soft pink blooms over deeply-cut foliage. A woodland edge staple.

Wisteria

Cascading, fragrant racemes that create a dreamy canopy. Needs structure.