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| Having finally put a name to the lanky 3' tall plant with the delicate purple flowers that popped up in the oddest places the last two summers, I am looking for more info on Verbena bonariensis, or Tall Verbena. It is a perennial I understand in zone 7 and warmer, but here in zone 5 it is considered an annual. I'm assuming the plants I saw last year and this year are from seeds leftover from the previous homeowner's plants. I'd like to encourage it to grow in a different area of the garden, but I didn't find anything on the web about the seed itself, nor how or when to collect it. Can anyone help me? |
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| Yes, annececillia, I'm sure the plants you see are leftovers from the previous homeowner's plants. It's pretty easy to propagate this... and I use that term loosely. A few years ago I bought a dwarf variety, Verbena bonariensis 'Lollipop'. I loved it and wanted more, so I cut off the dying flowers and tossed them on the ground around the gardens. I did this in late summer when the flower heads became brown with seeds. It was pretty simple. Just cut and sprinkle on the ground. What came back the following year ... all over the place ... was the taller form, Verbena bonariensis. I decided that I liked the parent plant even more than the shorter variety. V. bonariensis has continued to self-seed and has really spread. I've also transplanted clumps of it along a fence, and these survived. This year I found some growing between the rocks down by the river that edges our property ... and in our next-door neighbor's garden. I'm guessing some would call this a weed. But it's easy to rip out from where you don't want it. Molie |
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- Posted by annececilia z5a/N.Michigan (My Page) on Sat, Aug 23, 14 at 18:18
| Thank you, Molie. I will do exactly that - watch the flower heads for browning and drying and then sprinkle them where I hope to have some of this plant next year. If it's a weed, it's a lovely one. ;-) |
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| Try turning one of the flower heads upside down into your hand and giving it a little shake now, you'll probably get plenty of seeds already. Otherwise just wait till frost dries them out. The seeds will sprout best on bare ground (and in driveway cracks!) so move the mulch out of the way first if you have any down. |
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