Long-leaved speedwell
Veronica longifolia ·
The tallest speedwell: long, slender, tapering spikes of blue, pink or white in midsummer on leafy stems.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around long-leaved speedwell
The planner designed this bed around long-leaved speedwell when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why long-leaved speedwell stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Long-leaved speedwell × 3, blue
- 2 Yellow ice plant × 8, yellow
- 3 October daphne × 9, pink
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Sideoats grama × 3, purple
- 7 Star of Persia × 5, purple
- 8 Greigii tulip × 3, red
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are daisies, dense clusters, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only blue.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to sideoats grama (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 8 weeks. From late June to mid August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With false sunflower 'Summer Nights' and sideoats grama in early July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 27 of the 27 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. For contrast, the bold leaves of silver sage sit beside the fine leaves of yellow ice plant. The most in flower at one time is 3 kinds, from early July.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where long-leaved speedwell goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Slim spires that mix easily among daylilies and daisies. It likes more moisture than the low speedwells.
- Blue spires for the middle of a border
- Cut flowers
- Cottage gardens
What to plant with long-leaved speedwell
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for seven weeks, from early July.
- Daylily: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for seven weeks.
- Yarrow 'Moonshine': blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for seven weeks.
Questions about long-leaved speedwell
Does long-leaved speedwell need sun or shade?
Long-leaved speedwell grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does long-leaved speedwell grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does long-leaved speedwell flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should long-leaved speedwell be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many long-leaved speedwell plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Will long-leaved speedwell spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Self-seeds freely. Remove the spent flowers to limit seedlings.
What flowers after long-leaved speedwell?
Long-leaved speedwell is over by mid August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does long-leaved speedwell look like in winter?
Long-leaved speedwell dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Veronica
- Gentian speedwell Veronica gentianoides
- Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' Veronica umbrosa 'Georgia Blue'
- Speedwell 'Red Fox' Veronica spicata 'Rotfuchs'
- Speedwell 'Royal Candles' Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
- Speedwell 'Sunny Border Blue' Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'
- Spike speedwell Veronica spicata
- Woolly speedwell Veronica incana
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid August; upright spires; blue, pink, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.