Plants that bloom in April in Zone 5 with purple flowers

Ajuga

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

Anna's Red Hellebore

Wine-red outward-facing blooms above silver-marbled foliage. Bred to face the viewer, not the ground, like older hellebores do.

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.

Black Parrot Tulip

Fringed and twisted petals in deepest maroon-black. Looks more like an exotic bird than a tulip and steals every spring arrangement.

Bloom-a-Thon Azalea

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

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.

Crocus

One of the first signs of spring, pushing through snow with jewel-toned cups.

Eastern Redbud

Magenta flowers erupt directly from bare branches. Spring showstopper tree.

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.

Hellebore

The Lenten Rose. Elegant nodding blooms that thrive in deep shade.

Honesty

Purple spring flowers turn into translucent silvery seed pods like full moons. Biennial cottage classic that self-sows everywhere.

Hyacinth

Dense, intensely fragrant spikes. One bulb can perfume an entire room.

Lenten Rose

Nodding flowers in late winter when nothing else is blooming. Evergreen foliage adds year-round structure to shade gardens.

Lilac

Intensely fragrant clusters that define spring in northern gardens.

Magnolia

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

Onyx Odyssey Hellebore

Fully double black-purple blooms that look almost theatrical. The darkest hellebore available, and worth the hunt to find one.

Princess Irene Tulip

Glowing orange petals brushed with smoky purple flames. Mildly fragrant and one of the most unusual color combinations in any tulip.

Queen of Night Tulip

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

Snapdragon

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

Stock

Dense spikes of clove-scented blooms in soft pastels. Cool-season cut flower that fills a room with spicy perfume.

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.

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.