I'm in zone 7 so I can't help out as far as if it can be winter hardy to zone 5, but I will tell you during the warmer growing months it spreads quite a lot, but not undesireably so, being so pretty and easy to cut back into bounds if you want it to stay more put. I don't mind at all that it has weaved through its neighboring plants! I planted 'Homestead Purple' in front of some daylillies and it wandered all the way to the back of them. The touch of purple poking up through the strappy daylilly leaves looks very, very nice. They spread by the lower stems which turn woody and root when they touch the ground. If a runner gets longer than you want it you can chop off the woody stem and move the rooted end and plant it somewhere else. I used to think you had to get a rooted piece to make another plant but I discovered you can also just cut off a non-rooted green stem and stick it in the ground. I found that out when I cut off a long flowering stem that was hanging way over the edge of the bed. I was going to throw it away but it was such a pretty and healthy piece I wandered if I could pinch off the lower-most 3 or 4 pairs of leaves and just stick the stem in the dirt. I made a pencil-shaped hole and plunged the stem in all the way to where the first set of leaves was at soil level. There was even a flower at the top of the stem that I didn't bother to remove which had wilted by the next day, but the stem grew new leaves in just a matter of days. Easy as pie. Although I haven't tried it, I don't know why you couldn't overwinter your 'Homestead Purple' in the garage. Seems like it would work to me. I would sure give it a try.

I have it in a gravel bed and have grown it with little hassle for at least a decade. Yep, it seeds about (a bit) but never offensively so, butterflies are crazy for it and it always looks lovely with gaura, pink and purple toadflax, thalictrums and incredibly tall and airy althea cannabina, taking over from the dieramas and umbels (I love these very tall and airy plants). It moves about a little but has never been an issue - unlike the annoying crimson pincushion (knautia macedonica). At this time of year, when a lot of stuff is looking a bit rank and overgrown (and attacked by sneaky and rapacious bindweed), the VB and its companions - supported by the extending orpines, alchemillas, cistus, perovskia and blue rue, the gravel garden is the late summer highlight of my allotment (I struggle maintaining moisture for the phlox , heleniums and asters et al at the other end of my plot). In truth, I rarely pay much attention as it is an easy and reliable plant which never outgrows it's welcome. Horses for courses, for sure!.

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

I really love all the plants I've gotten from Gardens of Babylon. They're more expensive, but oh so healthy. I was talking to them about sales the other day, and you can go to their Web site and sign up for their newsletter to get the heads-up. Another little nifty secret I've discovered this year is, some perennials are sold as annuals at nurseries because they are supposedly marginal for this zone. Dusty Miller is always tagged as an annual, but I've read anecdotal reports that it's hardy to Z5. I picked up some small 4" pots of Homestead Purple Verbena for $2 apiece, and that too is perennial here I believe. You should see the growth those little plants have put on just this year. Almost scary. :)