Garden verbena, ideal for flower beds

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Flowers in shades from pinkish white to violet, touched with blue and red: garden verbena (Verbena x hybrida) earns its place along edges, in flower beds and in garden boxes or hanging pot arrangements. Give it full sun and light, well-drained soil, keep removing the faded blooms, and it simply carries on flowering.

Planting, sowing garden vervain

From planting and care and from spring to winter, follow our gardening tips to increase blooming.

Plant your garden verbena preferably in fall, but you can also plant it until spring as long as it doesn’t freeze.

• Remember to blend the soil with compost or special flower plant soil mix

Sowing garden vervain

You can start your covered sowing early in early spring and mid-spring or directly in the ground starting from late spring.

• When sowing in a sheltered place, ensure minimum temperatures of 60°F (15°C).
• Broadcast seeds and cover the seeds in a shallow layer of seedling soil mix.
• As soon as the first leaves appear, thin to 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm).
• When the plants have born 4 or 5 leaves, transplant them to a nursery pot.
• Transplant to the ground when the last frosts are past, towards late spring.

Planting and sowing: what to do and when

Garden verbena can be planted as a young plant or raised from seed, under cover or straight into the ground. Here is how the season breaks down, stage by stage.

Whichever route you take, the aim is the same: strong plants in place for a flowering season that runs from early summer to early autumn.

Caring for garden vervain

Verbena x hybrida, although it’s a perennial, is grown as an annual.

Vervain is a plant that requires rather little care but some attention must be given in order to extend the blooming for a while.

• Remove wilted flowers regularly (deadheading) in order to boost flower-bearing.
• In pots, containers or hanging arrangements, water when the soil has dried up.
• At the end of summer, adding fertilizer may rekindle the blooming and enhance autumn colors.

After the first fall frost spells, you can pull your garden vervain out; the following year’s blooming will be insignificant.

Since it is vulnerable to aphid attacks, read up on how to treat against aphids if need be.

All there is to know about garden vervain

This perennial plant which is grown as an annual counts many different varieties (over 200).

These plants are mostly ornamental and aren’t used for infusions, even though they’re all edible. Usually, medicinal or lemon verbena are used for infusions or herbal tea.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla, Aloysia citriodora) is the species most used by herbal tea manufacturers.

Garden verbena bears flowers that range from pinkish white to violet, with touches of blue and red depending on the variety.

You can plant them along edges, in flower beds and they’ll also look great in garden boxes or hanging pot arrangements.