I've not been successful growing these but I heard it's supposed to be easy to grow from seeds. It's considered an annual in my zone and a good reseeder - so I hope i see blooms this season. I sowed mine in late April. Right now I cannot tell which among the many germinating seeds is the verbena. I'm excited.

I keep reading, too, that it's a reseeder but mine never does; it's more like an annual. It doesn't even grow as well as I'd expect for something that's weedy. Maybe it doesn't like sandy soil...?

It reseeds like mad in my garden, and I replant little seedlings where I want them. Yellow finches love them! Even if stems bend - they continue blooming and growing like nothing happened, reaching for the sun.
White powdery mildew might be an issue, but it does not seem to harm the plant.
It is light and airy, a butterfly magnet. I love this plant!

I'm going to give it a shot and free reign over a new area I intend to create a bed in this fall. I'll collect seeds in the fall too.

Verbena bonariensis is the perfect accessory plant. It goes with everything in full sun.

Whenever I find seedlings, I let them get about 4-6" high, then I move them to a new location. Right now, I'm loving the tall, mature plants with yarrow 'Coronation Gold' and nepeta 'Walkers Low' -- at the edge of my butterfly garden next to the meadow for a transition. This may be too much of a "meadow look" for in-town gardens.

I've tried and tried to take a good picture, but this is the first year, and there's a lot of soil showing and I need to continue adding more yarrow when I can divide it.

Cameron

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I went out this morning and cut back some older plants that the wind had tossed about. Smaller plants are coming on to take their place. Mildew can be a problem, with all the rain we've had. Just cut them back and they'll put out new green.

Nell

I absolutely love the plant and love the way the finches will balance on the flower just eatin' away. Mine never seem to reseed either but the two plants I have are perennial. I really do need to make an effort to save seed this year - that is if the finches leave me any - huuuummmmmm maybe that is why I never get seedlings .....

Lynne

ianna, here's a picture of a V. bonariensis seedling.
Jim

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Thanks for posting the photo Jim. I was wondering if mine reseeded and am glad to now have a reference. wig

I really love the look of this plant but they are expensive here and when I tried them, they did not re-seed here in MA.

token28001. It should grow well where you live. I live in Va, Beach. Va.
I bought mine as a small plant in a nursery. Never tried from seed. You
will find small plants pop up in different areas of your garden, It's not
weedy, at least not in my garden. I really enjoy the flower. Somehow
it really stands out in the garden. From the distance it looks like they
are floating in the air. Very nice from my kitchen window.

token - they reseed unbelievable here - They are very easy to grow and as lynn said, the goldfinches love ver.bona....

Because it has been so wet, whenever I see a reseed, I just lift it right out of where it is and replace it where I want - they are sturdy little seedlings...

Carrie

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I love verbena. It reseeds for me as well, I just found a little grouping of them. Occasionally a plant won't make it through the winter, but I always have a seedling to take it's place.

My seeds arrived yesterday in the mail. I scattered them in several bare spots in the perennial bed. With all the rain we've had, they should sprout in a week or so.

It may be considered a weed in the US, but I saw it growing in the Norfolk, VA Botanical Garden last year. They said it dies back to the ground but comes back each Spring, as well as reseeds. (I had to say it that way because I can never spell the word perrninneanal) I'd love to know where you found the seeds. Cheryl

The first time I saw it grown 'domestically' was at a Texas A&M research facility at Overton, Texas. TAMU does a lot of experimental growing there.

I do like this plant, but I am really hesitant to put it into my garden. Like, ON PURPOSE?!!! Am I going to come back in a couple of years and ask 'What were you thinking?!"

Janie, who had the hardest time learning to spell perennial, too.

Père is the French word for father. add on the double n's and and ial. Perennial.

If you get close, we know what you mean. Just don't spell it perineal, a medical term having to do with the crotch.

V. bonariensis is similar in appearance to Vernonia noveboracensis, or New York Ironweed which is native to the eastern US and grows wild here. Verbena is of the family verbenaceae. Ironweed is of the aster family. I haven't seen mildew on Ironweed in the wild. Maybe I should switch to the native.

Nell

OMG!

GG sent me seeds and I sowed them last Fall. I watched and watched all spring for them to come up, but I had no idea what to look for and the weeds came up too. I think I may have pulled them all out thinking they were weeds. There is a weed here that makes the same kind of leaves, but it grows into an horrible adult plant with roots from hell, so I pull them. Ooops!
Darn it!

Thanks for the picture of the seedling. Now I will know what to look for if I ever get seeds again. :(
There may be some survivors. I will check tomorrow.
Thanks for this post.
~Annie

This is another reason to love verbena bonariensis. The Goldfinch were all over it this morning between rain showers. I was standing on my front porch with the camera and used the zoom to capture them out in the butterfly garden.

Cameron

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You are so right, Cameron - I think it's actually one of the reasons that I love the Ver. Bon.... The goldfinches love them - you may know.. is it because of the color, the height, the fragrance (if there is any..)..?? Anyway, they love perching on them and your picture says a thousand words...

Carrie

I don't know why the finches like the vb so much, but they seem to be equally fond of Agastache 'Blue Fortune' when it is in bloom. I've been disappointed with the color fading so fast on those blooms, but since the finches and Monarchs love it, I keep growing it.

jim,

That's so sweet of you to post that photo. I've been searching for a photo of a verebena seedling for a while now and had spotted only some unclear photos. Thanks. I'm going to have to pour through my front yard to see if these are growing. You see I've liberally doused my yard with wildflower seeds and so I've been guessing which one are the verbenas. Again, I'm excited.

re the gold finches. I do wonder where these finches are in my area. I used to get regular visits from these birds but not as many so far...

I have goldfinches all year round here. I love it when the males change to their vivid yellow and black colors. The females are a softer yellow with lime-green and gray-brown feathers. Pretty too. I feed them with black thistle seed socks. They love sunflowers too.
But I want Verbena bonariensis! Darn it!!!
That is a most beautiful photo Cameron. Thanks for posting it.

Bird lover,
~Annie

Seamommy, I got seeds from someone here on gardenweb. I'll have to go back and look. I've gotten three packages in the mail this week and don't want to mis-attribute the gracious trader.