“Be like a tree. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your unique natural beauty. Keep growing.” Joanne Raptis. “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” Frank Scully. “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.” Francis Bacon Sr. “When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” Shauna Niequist. 

Verbena can handle any spot in the garden during the hottest days of summer! They are known for withstanding the pressure of hot, dry conditions and many new hybrids have been bred just for this situation.

Verbena is a member of the Verbenaceae family which is characterized by clumps or spikes of flowers on heat-loving herbs, shrubs, trees, or vines. Other members of this family include Lemon Verbena, Lantana, Porterweed (Stachytarpheta spp.), and Sandpaper vine (Petrea volubilis). While verbena was used as a medicinal herb and holy plant in the Egyptian, Roman, and Greek ancient civilizations, today they are prized for their ornamental value. There are many varied types and habits, including upright and tall, as well as mounded and trailing. Some verbena make great ground covers as well.

Annual varieties to look for include Aztec series which has big clusters of vibrant flowers that provide an eye-catching display in containers, beds, and hanging baskets. Free-flowering through heat and humidity on a mounding trailing plant. Empress series which includes both trailing and semi-trailing types of verbena with eye-catching flower colors that stay a compact 8-10″ tall but can spread up to 18″ wide.

EnduraScape™ Pink Bicolor is a 2017 All-America Selections winner. This vigorous and spreading, long-flowering plant can be considered a hardy annual since it thrives in the heat and can take some chilling temperatures as well. And Firehouse™ Purple Fizz is a top performer at many university flower trials. This medium-vigor purple and white bicolor verbena has a beautiful mounded habit perfect for hanging baskets and landscapes. This variety, and the others in the Firehouse series, have superior powdery mildew tolerance and prolonged summer flowering.

Lanai has distinct color patterns that remain strong and stable (and powdery mildew resistant) throughout the growing season. Lanais come in three types: regular, compact, and upright. Twister series is popular because of its unique tricolor blooms and long-flowering periods. And Obsession series is known for bold colors and a twister pattern and are one of the few verbenas still available from seed.

Superbena® Imperial Blue™ is a new-to-market variety with an attractive and truly unique blue color on large flowers. This Superbena boasts exceptional branching on a tidy, manageable habit. It’s tough as nails and will continue blooming late through the summer. Also, Beats™ series is a fun, new compact size of verbena. Purple+White is a bicolor bloomer that is a great option for small patio pots and tabletop bowls as it will keep its eye-catching mound of color all summer long.

Temari® trailing are a range of broad-leaved verbenas, which produce vigorous branches that quickly form mounds of color via large bold blooms. And Tapien® is a fined leaved series of verbenas known for their spreading habit and good cold and heat tolerance and mildew resistance. Tapien makes an excellent ground cover plant and is constantly in bloom. Tuscany, also from seed, has an upright habit perfect for small or medium-sized containers. Big blooms and sunny colors add a bright interest to the garden.

Cake Pops™ is fun and functional. These verbenas have a cute globular flower shape and will not flush. Cake Pops are available in two pleasing soft colors: Pink and Purple. And Homestead Purple has been around for over two decades. It’s known best for its determination to continuously flower through summer, and it’s a perennial in zones 7-11. It makes an excellent drought-tolerant groundcover. Homestead Hot Pink is a new color and promises to deliver the same performance in a bright, new hue.

Verbena home gardening tips: While verbena seed is available, many of the newer varieties that have the desirable traits are vegetatively propagated and can be found as young plants at your local garden retailer in the spring. Verbena looks their best when their soil is kept moist, but not wet as they do not like soggy feet. If the growing medium dries down too much it can cause flushing. Flushing is commonly known as cycling out of color where the plant loses blooms but remains green and leafy.

Also, verbena plants should be placed in sunny locations, aiming for 6 or more hours of direct light. Most species perform well in the ground or landscape. They can also be displayed in hanging baskets and patio containers. For the compact-growing verbena, those work best in pots and do not have the root vigor for garden bed applications. For prolonged flowering, deadhead verbena by cutting or pulling off spent flower heads.

And powdery mildew is an unfortunate occurrence on some verbena. The best practice is to look for newer varieties that have a built-in resistance. If  it does appear (it will present as white patches of fluffy fungus on leaves or stem) treat with a neem spray or your favorite fungicide. Catching this mildew early is the best solution, as this disease can spread quickly, and its fungus blocks sunlight to the plant’s nutrition system, making the plant unable to produce food, which will ultimately cause the plant to perish.

Gardening with verbenas can elevate your landscape design and add texture and color to your patio containers. You’ll appreciate their colorful branches and how well they fit in with other flowers in your garden. Verbena is an excellent choice for plant lovers of all levels of garden abilities.

This fact sheet is provided as an educational service of the National Garden Bureau (www.ngb.org/year-of-plants-2022).

“In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 118:5-6. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors…” 2 Corinthians 5:20. Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32. “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Galatians 5:16.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.