Plant Nerdery

for Plant Parents

The Best Purple Houseplants to Grow and Care For Indoors

Dec 31, 2024

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in Featured Plants, Posts, Uncategorized

Purple houseplants are a stunning way to add a pop of color and vibrancy to your indoor garden. Whether it’s their foliage or blooms, plants with shades of purple are often eye-catching and can bring a unique aesthetic to your home. Here’s a list of some of the most popular and beautiful purple houseplants to consider.

1. Purple Heart Plant (Tradescantia pallida)

The Purple Heart Plant is known for its striking, deep purple leaves and trailing growth habit. It’s a great plant for hanging baskets or for use as a ground cover indoors.

🪴 Why It’s Special: The plant’s vibrant purple leaves can develop even richer hues in bright, indirect light. It’s also low-maintenance and grows quickly.

🪴 Care Tips: Prefers bright, indirect light but can tolerate lower light. Water when the top inch of soil dries out. It thrives in well-draining soil.

2. Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina): Purple Houseplants

The Wandering Jew features beautiful, variegated leaves with a combination of green, silver, and purple stripes. It’s another excellent plant for hanging baskets due to its trailing vines.

🪴 Why It’s Special: The leaves have a metallic sheen, and the purple undersides add a rich contrast to the green and silver on top.

🪴 Care Tips: Place in bright, indirect light for the best color. Keep the soil evenly moist but not waterlogged. This plant appreciates high humidity, so regular misting helps. Photo by: plantscouts

3. Purple Shamrock (Oxalis triangularis)

The Purple Shamrock is famous for its clover-shaped, deep purple leaves. It also produces small white or pink flowers, which offer a delicate contrast to the rich purple foliage.

🪴 Why It’s Special: Its leaves open and close in response to light, giving the plant a dynamic, interactive feel. The striking purple makes it a standout in any plant collection.

🪴 Care Tips: Requires bright, indirect light to maintain its deep purple color. Water when the top layer of soil dries out and ensure good drainage. photo by rareplantfairy

4. Rex Begonia: Purple Houseplants

Rex Begonias are prized for their intricate, colorful leaves, often featuring a mixture of green, silver, and purple hues. There are many varieties, some of which showcase deep purple patterns or edges on their leaves.

🪴 Why It’s Special: The stunning leaf patterns and textures make this a statement plant. Its vibrant purple tones are mesmerizing, especially when combined with other colors in the leaves.

🪴 Care Tips: Prefers medium to bright indirect light. Keep the soil moist but not soggy, and maintain high humidity. Avoid placing it in direct sunlight, as the leaves can scorch. photo by: thesentientgardener

5. Purple Waffle Plant (Hemigraphis alternata)

The Purple Waffle Plant has small, crinkled leaves with a metallic purple underside, making it a beautiful, textured addition to any space.

🪴 Why It’s Special: Its unique, wavy leaves provide texture and interest, and the deep purple color adds a vibrant touch. It’s also an excellent air purifier.

🪴 Care Tips: Thrives in bright, indirect light but can tolerate lower light levels. Keep the soil consistently moist and provide high humidity for the best growth. ahmet_yilmaz_0733

6. Gynura Aurantiaca (Purple Velvet Plant): Purple Houseplants

The Purple Velvet Plant lives up to its name with its soft, velvety leaves covered in vibrant purple hairs. This fuzzy texture, along with its rich color, makes it stand out among other houseplants.

🪴 Why It’s Special: The plant’s rich purple hairs give it an almost glowing effect, making it visually striking in any collection.

🪴 Care Tips: Requires bright, indirect light to maintain its vibrant purple color. Water when the top inch of soil is dry, and ensure the plant has good drainage. photo by: Fantasy Garden

7. African Violet (Saintpaulia)

African Violets are known for their stunning purple, blue, or pink flowers, often blooming year-round if cared for properly. While the flowers are the main attraction, some varieties also have purple-tinged leaves.

🪴 Why It’s Special: This classic houseplant is beloved for its long-lasting blooms, which come in various shades of purple. It’s compact and fits well in small spaces.

🪴 Care Tips: Needs bright, indirect light and consistent moisture. Water from the bottom to avoid wetting the leaves, as this can cause damage. Prefers high humidity. Photo By: tornsweater

8. Calathea ‘Dottie’: Purple Houseplants

The Calathea ‘Dottie’ is part of the calathea family, known for its striking foliage. This particular variety features dark, almost black leaves with vivid pink to purple markings.

🪴 Why It’s Special: The contrast between the dark leaves and the pinkish-purple veins makes it a stunning centerpiece in any plant display.

🪴 Care Tips: Prefers medium to low indirect light and high humidity. Keep the soil consistently moist but not soggy, and mist the plant regularly to maintain humidity. photo by: amazing_plants

9. Ti Plant (Cordyline fruticosa)

The Ti Plant can develop rich purple to red foliage depending on the variety. It’s a tall, striking plant often used to create a tropical vibe indoors.

🪴 Why It’s Special: Its sword-shaped leaves add vertical interest, and the vibrant purple tones make it a dramatic statement piece.

🪴 Care Tips: Likes bright, indirect light and regular watering. Ensure the soil remains moist, but avoid waterlogging. Ti plants prefer higher humidity. photo by: thebotanyguild

10. Bromeliads (Neoregelia): Purple Houseplants

Some Bromeliads offer stunning purple tones in their foliage or blooms. These tropical plants come in a wide range of colors, including vibrant shades of purple and red.

🪴 Why It’s Special: Bromeliads bring a splash of tropical color and a unique growth habit to any indoor space. Their foliage can develop vibrant purple hues under the right light conditions.

🪴 Care Tips: Bromeliads like bright, indirect light and a humid environment. Water the central “cup” of the plant and mist regularly. photo by: devo.bromeliads

11. Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus)

Native to Myanmar, this stunning plant features iridescent purple leaves with a metallic sheen that catches the light beautifully. It can grow up to 4 feet tall indoors, making it a dramatic statement piece.

🪴 Why It’s Special: Its leaves have an almost holographic quality, shifting between deep purple and silvery metallic depending on the light angle.

🪴 Care Tips: Bright indirect light and high humidity are essential. Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. photo by: nadipokoks

Conclusion: Purple Houseplants

Purple houseplants are a fantastic way to add bold, vibrant colors to your indoor garden. Whether you’re drawn to the rich purple foliage of the Purple Heart Plant, the dynamic flowers of the African Violet, or the dramatic leaves of the Ti Plant, there’s a purple plant for every plant lover. Each of these plants offers a unique beauty, and with the proper care, they will thrive and add a stunning visual element to your space.