• Lavender fields can paint hillsides in purple when they are in bloom.Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Perennial plants are those that return year after year, often surviving winter in the ground. Many gardeners enjoy perennial flowers, since the flowers don't have to be replanted every year and offer just as much variety as annuals and biennials do. A large number of perennials have purple flowers. Some of these flowers have names that have become synonymous with certain shades of purple.
  
  

Lavender

• Lavender originated in the mountainous areas of southern Europe and is now grown around the world. The flower is so popular that its name is often used to describe a light shade of purple. This hardy perennial has woody branches with leafy shoots that grow upright up to 2 feet high. Small purple flowers cover the shoots and produce a distinct scent.
  
  

Violet

• There are over 400 species of violets. The vast majority are perennials with bright purple blooms, although some are annuals or have yellow, blue or white blooms. Violets are small plants, between 2 and 6 inches tall, with leafy green foliage. Violets flower in the spring.
  
  

Miss Indigo Primrose

• The Miss Indigo primrose is a small plant (approximately 1 foot wide and nearly 1 foot tall) with clusters of purple flowers. The blooms are about 1 inch wide, form in double clusters and are dark purple with a white lining around the outside edge. Miss Indigo primroses bloom for a few weeks in the early spring.
  
  

Common Foxglove

• The common foxglove grows between 4 and 5 feet tall and is covered in bell-shaped, 3-inch long, purple and white flowers. After planting, the common foxglove grows the first year without flowering; it flowers in the spring and winter of the following year.
  
  

Purple Coneflower

• The purple coneflower resembles a sunflower in both size and flower shape. The coneflower can grow more than 4 feet tall, and the bloom has purple petals surrounding a red or orange center. Purple coneflowers are relatively easy to grow and bloom in late summer or early fall.