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| Verbena hastata |
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| Rose vervain with Brown-Eyed Susan, 'Grey Owl' Juniper and Switchgrass |
'Homestead Purple' is a chance hybrid that was discovered by Alan Armitage and Michael Dirr at a Georgia country homestead while they were driving back to Athens, Georgia. They saw a patch of brilliant purple flowers and stopped to speak with the homeowner, took cuttings and the rest is history.
We have them to thank for a plant that blooms for months; provides nectar for visiting bees, skippers and butterflies and is one of the best flowering groundcovers ever! It's not unusual for Rose verbena to be semi-evergreen in my Zone 7 garden, but, it will die out in badly draining soil. So plant it on a well drained site with full sun and let it fill in.
If you're like me you can combine it with golden yellow rudbeckias, purple asters, Liatris, Echinaceas, Gaillardias and native grasses or go for a tamer look and plant it in the front of abed with sweet pale yellows and blues and silvers.
If you're like me you can combine it with golden yellow rudbeckias, purple asters, Liatris, Echinaceas, Gaillardias and native grasses or go for a tamer look and plant it in the front of abed with sweet pale yellows and blues and silvers.
'Homestead Purple' is a perennial in zones 7-10 but, the species is perennial in the Central Plains and the Eastern US.
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| each bloom is about 1/4 inch~now that's tiny |
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| A hard spot to photograph, it's either too shady or too sunny! |
Yes, Swamp Verbena is the common name and it's happiest in a moist soil; will even tolerate soggy for a bit of time. They're planted on the far edge of the Susan's Bed in a newly dug space between slabs of bedrock where I hope it will stay moist enough to keep it happy the rest of the summer and will then settle in nicely during our usually wet, wet winters. That's the plan! We'll see if the weather and the verbena cooperate.
You'll find V hastata in almost every state and province minus a few in the US and Canada...
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| Flowers on each spike bloom bottom to top |
More importantly, they also fit right in with the other rough and tumble, take care of them selves wildflowers that do best in my garden. If it's happy, it will grow tall, form a small colony, bloom for months and attract pollinators.
xxoogail
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.
