Will our love affair with Verbena bonariensis ever wane? This fabulous flower looks as good growing individually among low border plants as it does planted en masse.
Will our love affair with Verbena bonariensis ever wane? This fabulous flower looks as good growing individually among low border plants as it does planted en masse. The open, airy quality of the stems only adds to the appeal. Wildlife loves V. bonariensis too, with bees and butterflies flitting from flower to flower all summer.
I've spotted several local authorities using V. bonariensis in flower displays on roundabouts, so that's a sure endorsement of its reliability and performance.
While this verbena is often classed as a perennial, most gardeners treat it as an annual. Old plants can be cut down to their base each winter, and new shoots do often develop the following spring. However, for a reliable display (like the one shown in the picture, above) I'd recommend sowing fresh seed in March/April in a warm greenhouse or on a windowsill.
When it comes to self-seeding, this generous verbena usually obliges each summer. Just let the seed fall from plants where they grow, and with luck you'll enjoy a nice crop of seedlings next year, to either leave to bloom or lift and transplant elsewhere.
So, which other flowers are as generous as V. bonariensis in their self-seeding habit? In my garden I'm rewarded with seedlings of foxgloves, hellebores, aquilegia, Jacob's ladder, lemon balm and chives, among many others.
Is your garden as generous?
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