Verbena bonariensis
Common Names: purpletop verbena, purpletop vervain, South American
verbena, tall verbena
Family: Verbenaceae (verbena or vervain Family)
Perennial Annual Attracts Butterflies Fast Growing Easy to grow -
great for beginners! Flowers
Description
Purpletop verbena is an erect, clump-forming perennial with stiff,
widely branched stems. It can reach 3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m) in height
with an open, airy spread of 1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m). The scabrous
(sandpapery) stems and branches grow in an upright pattern and are
square in cross section. Most of the leaves are clustered in a
mounded rosette at the base of the plant. The relatively scarce stem
leaves are opposite, 3-5 in (7-13 cm) long and clasping (i.e. the
leaves have no petioles and their bases wrap around the stem). The
flowers are purple, a quarter-inch across, and borne in rounded
clusters about 2-3 in (5-7.6 cm) across. Botanists call this type of
inflorescence a cyme: a flower cluster in which the center flower
opens first, and later-opening flowers are on the ends of lateral
branches that arise from below the first flower. Purpletop verbena
displays its showy flowers all summer long, until the first frost of
autumn.
Location
Purpletop verbena is native to Brazil and Argentina. It has escaped
cultivation and become naturalized in disturbed areas in California
and the southeastern US, from South Carolina to Texas, including all
of Florida.
Culture
Pinch the first few shoots in spring to encourage branching. The
more you cut it back, the more shrub like purpletop verbena will
become. This plant often contracts powdery mildew, especially in
humid summers. This causes unsightly white spots on the leaves but
does not seem to have any effect on the health of the plant or on
its blooming.
Light: Does best in full sun but can tolerate a little bit of shade.
Moisture: Purpletop verbena is fairly drought tolerant.
Hardiness: This verbena is a perennial in USDA zones 7-11 and grown
as an annual in cooler climates.
Propagation: Purpletop verbena is easily propagated from seed and it
usually volunteers to do just that, whether it's in the gardener's
design plan or not! It also can be started from cuttings of young
branch tips in spring or summer, or by dividing the rooted clumps of
young shoots in spring.
Usage
The airy, see-through habit of purpletop verbena makes it a good
choice for the front or middle of a mixed border. It doesn't cast
much of a shadow and you can see other plants behind and under it.
Weave a line of purpletop verbena through a bed or border of other
butterfly flowers. It's best planted in columns or masses because it
is so thin it will be overlooked all by itself.
In mild climates, purpletop verbena will self sow rather freely.
However, it is easily kept under control. Although it has become
established in many areas outside its native range, it is not
considered a pest.
Features
There are some 250 species of Verbena and about a half dozen are in
cultivation. The most popular is the annual bedding plant, hybrid
verbena (V. X hybrida), the product of artificial crossing among
several wild species. Various cultivars of this annual are available
at most garden centers. Moss verbena (Glandularia puchella, formerly
known as Verbena tenuisecta), is a closely related vervain
originally from South America that now grows prolifically in fields
and along southern US road shoulders. Moss verbena often produces
huge expanses of brilliant red or purple by staying close to the
ground below the mowers' blades. |
