If ever there was a list of sacred plants, verbena would be close to the top. Throughout history verbena was thought to inspire creativity, be a cure-all and some even believed it could aid in settling disputes. For some is was also used in treating bladder infections and kidney stones. Druids used to offer a sacrifice to the soil before harvesting it, such was their veneration for the plant.
The shopping list for garden plants almost always contains items which are said to be prolific in flowering, hardy, heat-tolerant and low maintenance. How fortuitous that verbena has all those qualities. In fact, as long as you set them up in good position when you first pop them in your garden, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well they respond to being ignored.
Pick a really sunny position, one that gets at least eight hours of direct sunlight every day and make sure the soil drains well; and your disease prevention with this lovely garden plant will be sorted. Powdery mildew and other diseases that verbena is susceptible to will never get a look in without the excess moisture to get going.
Start your seedlings off with a little extra care with a well composted bed and regular watering while they are establishing themselves. When they’re about 15cm tall, you can fertilise them, once off, with a balanced slow release fertiliser. Only water your plants when the soil has dried out to at least one centimetre deep.
Your only job is to deadhead their spent blooms, if of course you want more blooms. They are quite fussy about expending more energy, putting out fresh blooms while old blooms are still scattered about. So if you snip the old ones off they’ll respond in kind by replacing them.
Verbena works well in hanging baskets, pots, rockeries or garden beds; so why not pick some up, in your favourite colour, next time you pop into your local garden centre? With colours ranging from mauve, purple and pink to apricot, red and even some bi-coloured ones, there is something magical waiting to fill that spot in your garden.
Content provided by The Bedding Plant Growers Association.
