The South American verbena was picture perfect at the recent Park Seed Open House part of the Greenwood South Carolina Festival of Flowers. I took the opportunity to take dozens of photos. The heat simply put, was staggering, certainly not what you are looking for when you conduct plant trials but in reality it makes a statement on the durability of plants like this verbena.
The South American verbena known botanically as Verbena bonariensis is also called Brazilian verbena, purpletop, and my favorite which is verbena on a stick. The latter may be most descriptive as this plant is tall reaching 3 to 4 feet and though it looks like it might topple in the face of wind and rain it is indeed very sturdy.
The trait that I like most about it is that it is virtually indestructible blooming until frost. While Park Seed used the traditional tall selection in a number of creative combinations gardeners can learn from, we can also celebrate a new variety called Little One introduced by Proven Winners that is 18 to 24 inches tall.
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