Verbena 'Homestead Purple'
Glandularia canadensis 'Homestead Purple' · Verbenaceae
A trailing mat of dark leaves covered in rich purple flower clusters from spring to frost in warm regions. It needs sun and drainage, and is short-lived in cold, wet winters.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to early October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around verbena 'Homestead Purple'
The planner designed this bed around verbena 'Homestead Purple' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why verbena 'Homestead Purple' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 4, purple
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 8, pink
- 3 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Spike speedwell × 5, blue
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 8 Darwin hybrid tulip × 12, yellow
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are flat plates, daisies, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 68% of the edge.
- 4 plants in 2 runs (3 and 1). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for 21 weeks. From mid May to early October.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch', wild quinine, spike speedwell and others in late June: 5 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. When the flowers are over, Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' and dwarf English boxwood keep the bed from looking bare. The scheme leans cool (purple, pink and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. 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 verbena 'Homestead Purple' goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
Few plants flower for so long. The saturated purple is a strong base colour for yellows and oranges above it. In the north, treat it as an annual.
- Long-flowering groundcover for hot, sunny spots
- Spilling over walls and containers
- Butterfly gardens
What to plant with verbena 'Homestead Purple'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': in flower together for eight weeks, from mid August; bold leaves against its medium ones; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Blanket flower: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for 15 weeks; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Autumn sage: in flower together for 21 weeks, from mid May; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (2½ ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about verbena 'Homestead Purple'
Does verbena 'Homestead Purple' need sun or shade?
Verbena 'Homestead Purple' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does verbena 'Homestead Purple' grow in?
USDA zones 6 to 10. It is hardy to zone 6, which means it survives winter nights down to about 0 °F (−18 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does verbena 'Homestead Purple' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to early October. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 6 | Early May to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 7 | Early May to early October |
| Zone 8 | Late April to early October |
| Zone 9 | Mid April to early 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 verbena 'Homestead Purple' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many verbena 'Homestead Purple' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is verbena 'Homestead Purple' 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.
Do deer eat verbena 'Homestead Purple'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after verbena 'Homestead Purple'?
Verbena 'Homestead Purple' is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Saffron crocus: from early October to early November, 5 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa': from early October to early November, 10 in tall.
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall.
What does verbena 'Homestead Purple' look like in winter?
Verbena 'Homestead Purple' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
Is verbena 'Homestead Purple' good for bees and butterflies?
Verbena 'Homestead Purple' is visited by pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Zone guides: Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
In flower in: May · June · July · August · September · October
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid May to early October; dense clusters; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Comes from
- North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Drought, heat, humidity, salt
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.