Tall verbena
Verbena bonariensis · Verbenaceae Popular
Small clusters of lavender-purple flowers on tall, wiry, almost leafless stems, from midsummer to frost. Butterflies cover it. North of zone 7 it grows as a self-seeding annual.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Weaver
A bed built around tall verbena
The planner designed this bed around tall verbena when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 7, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 977 that suit those conditions, and says below why tall verbena stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Tall verbena × 3, purple
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 9, white
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Triteleia 'Queen Fabiola' × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are globes, bells, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant 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 false sunflower 'Summer Sun' (3½ 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 17 weeks. From late June to mid October.
- Closes the season. For its last two weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 29 of the 29 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The flowering year starts with winter heath in late January and ends with tall verbena in mid October. Cool colours (purple, pink and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 5 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Tall verbena spreads aggressively. Each plant's details say more.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where tall verbena goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: weaver. A light, airy plant threaded singly between sturdier ones to knit the planting together.
The best see-through plant: tall, but so thin that it can go at the very front. Scatter it through a border to link the planting together.
- A see-through veil of purple
- Butterfly gardens
- Threading through a border
What to plant with tall verbena
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Black-eyed Susan: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for 11 weeks; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for 11 weeks, from late June; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about tall verbena
Does tall verbena need sun or shade?
Tall verbena grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does tall verbena grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 10. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does tall verbena flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid October |
|---|---|
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid October |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to mid October |
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 tall verbena be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many tall verbena plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, threaded between sturdier plants.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is tall verbena poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like tall verbena?
Tall verbena comes from South America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Blue sage: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, flowers late August to mid October.
- Grey-headed coneflower: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, flowers early July to late August.
- Meadow blazing star: the same colour; an accent, not a weaver, 12 in shorter.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat tall verbena?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will tall verbena spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is high. Self-seeds very freely, and has escaped into the wild in parts of the Southeast and the West Coast. Remove the spent flowers in mild climates.
What flowers after tall verbena?
Tall verbena is over by mid October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn': from early November to late December, 10 ft tall.
- Common witch hazel: from mid October to late November, 15 ft tall.
What does tall verbena look like in winter?
Tall verbena 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.
Is tall verbena good for bees and butterflies?
Tall verbena is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Verbena
- Blue vervain Verbena hastata
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Late June to mid October; dense clusters; purple
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Comes from
- South America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.