Landscape Design
Flowers and Plants
How 7 Landscape Designers Create Beautiful Gardens With Verbena
Verbena bonariensis works wonders as an airy screen, back-of-bed flower, window box plant and more
With light purple flowers that bloom from summer well into fall, Verbena bonariensis makes a name for itself with its long flowering time, height (up to 6 feet), ability to attract bees and butterflies, and graceful, willowy stems. While this pretty South American perennial is widely used in English and European gardens, often forming the backdrop for traditional floral borders, it’s somewhat less common in the U.S.
Take a look at how seven landscape designers on Houzz like to use this flowering plant in their garden designs. If you’d like to add this verbena to your garden, which goes by the common names of purpletop vervain, tall verbena or Brazilian vervain, fall is a good time to plant it from seed.
Caution: Purpletop vervain may be invasive in your area. Check with your local cooperative extension or county extension office before planting.
Take a look at how seven landscape designers on Houzz like to use this flowering plant in their garden designs. If you’d like to add this verbena to your garden, which goes by the common names of purpletop vervain, tall verbena or Brazilian vervain, fall is a good time to plant it from seed.
Caution: Purpletop vervain may be invasive in your area. Check with your local cooperative extension or county extension office before planting.
2. Gauzy Perimeter
Planted en masse along the side of a driveway, as Barnes Walker did on this property in Cheshire, Northern England, purple vervain forms a hazy purple screen. Its billowing form helps soften an otherwise closely trimmed formal side garden. The plant’s skinny, upright shape — which grows up to 6 feet tall but only 1 to 3 feet across — makes it perfect for a narrow section along a driveway.
Planted en masse along the side of a driveway, as Barnes Walker did on this property in Cheshire, Northern England, purple vervain forms a hazy purple screen. Its billowing form helps soften an otherwise closely trimmed formal side garden. The plant’s skinny, upright shape — which grows up to 6 feet tall but only 1 to 3 feet across — makes it perfect for a narrow section along a driveway.
Plants in this bed include purple vervain, ‘Flasher’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Flasher’), ‘Lucifer’ crocosmia (Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’), ‘Lochinch’ butterfly bush (Buddleia ‘Lochinch’) and ‘Grace’ smoke bush (Cotinus ‘Grace’).
3. Semitransparent Screen
For this colorful fall garden in Duvall, Washington, landscape designer Karen Chapman used purpletop vervain as a mid-border screen, separating a private seating area from the larger garden.
3. Semitransparent Screen
For this colorful fall garden in Duvall, Washington, landscape designer Karen Chapman used purpletop vervain as a mid-border screen, separating a private seating area from the larger garden.
“I use [V. bonariensis] to create a scrim in the garden, or a semitransparent screen, which adds mystery and intrigue,” says Chapman, owner of the garden design studio Le Jardinet. While the plant can reach up to 6 feet tall, the large gaps left between slender stems allows for one to look through it to another area.
“I love [V. bonariensis] because it is drought-tolerant and deer- and rabbit-resistant, and serendipity seems to ensure it always self-seeds in exactly the right spot,” Chapman says.
“I love [V. bonariensis] because it is drought-tolerant and deer- and rabbit-resistant, and serendipity seems to ensure it always self-seeds in exactly the right spot,” Chapman says.
4. Garden Height and Structure
In this garden in West Sussex, England, landscape designer Rachel Merrick of Elemental Designs used a swath of purpletop vervain to anchor the back of a mixed border planting, providing height and structure.“It’s my signature plant,” Merrick says. “It provides height, structure and flowers all the way through until the first frost. If left over winter, you have some interest in the seed heads.”
If you have the space for it, “I think huge banks of Verbena bonariensis look absolutely fabulous,” Merrick adds.
In this garden in West Sussex, England, landscape designer Rachel Merrick of Elemental Designs used a swath of purpletop vervain to anchor the back of a mixed border planting, providing height and structure.“It’s my signature plant,” Merrick says. “It provides height, structure and flowers all the way through until the first frost. If left over winter, you have some interest in the seed heads.”
If you have the space for it, “I think huge banks of Verbena bonariensis look absolutely fabulous,” Merrick adds.
5. Perimeter Fence Framer
While vines often grow on walls in tight urban gardens, landscape designer Emma Lyne of the The London Gardener used purple vervain in combination with fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) to frame this terrace in London’s Battersea neighborhood. Japanese maples, ferns, dwarf pines and feathery ornamental grasses further transform the urban space into a lush garden.
While vines often grow on walls in tight urban gardens, landscape designer Emma Lyne of the The London Gardener used purple vervain in combination with fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) to frame this terrace in London’s Battersea neighborhood. Japanese maples, ferns, dwarf pines and feathery ornamental grasses further transform the urban space into a lush garden.
Verbena mixes well with ornamental grasses, Lyne says, “which give movement and structure through the winter when there’s not much else going on in the garden.” She also favors planting it as a food source for urban pollinators.
6. Taste of the Countryside
In this patio garden in Derbyshire, England, garden designer Joanne Kennedy of Garden Blueprints used purpletop vervain, lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’) and a mix of other perennials to soften and bring a bit of wildness to a predominantly paved space.
“I use verbena in many places and find it such a useful plant,” Kennedy says. Some of the designer’s favorite strategies for the plant include creating a semitransparent screen and adding late-summer color with its blooms and winter structure with its seed heads.
In this patio garden in Derbyshire, England, garden designer Joanne Kennedy of Garden Blueprints used purpletop vervain, lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’) and a mix of other perennials to soften and bring a bit of wildness to a predominantly paved space.
“I use verbena in many places and find it such a useful plant,” Kennedy says. Some of the designer’s favorite strategies for the plant include creating a semitransparent screen and adding late-summer color with its blooms and winter structure with its seed heads.
7. Window Box Garden
Proving that you really don’t need much space for growing purpletop vervain — as long as you have a spot in full sun — this window box designed by Cameron Landscapes and Gardens offers a beautiful idea for a mixed container. Plants include red million bells (Calibrachoa sp.) and rosemary as bottom and mid-layers, with rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) and purpletop vervain for height.
Browse outdoor window boxes on Houzz
Proving that you really don’t need much space for growing purpletop vervain — as long as you have a spot in full sun — this window box designed by Cameron Landscapes and Gardens offers a beautiful idea for a mixed container. Plants include red million bells (Calibrachoa sp.) and rosemary as bottom and mid-layers, with rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) and purpletop vervain for height.
Browse outdoor window boxes on Houzz
How to Grow Verbena Bonariensis
Like other verbenas, Verbena bonariensis is easy to grow and thrives in quick-draining garden soils in spots that receive full sun. Sow seeds in fall before frost or in early spring; plant seedlings in spring.
Like other verbenas, Verbena bonariensis is easy to grow and thrives in quick-draining garden soils in spots that receive full sun. Sow seeds in fall before frost or in early spring; plant seedlings in spring.
Plants grown in fertile garden beds can reach 6 feet or taller (but don’t require staking, thanks to the stiffness of their stems); plants cultivated in containers or window boxes generally stay under 3 feet tall.
Plants reseed, but not aggressively, and can be transplanted as seedlings to spread among other garden beds. Flowers, which bloom from summer up until frost, attract bees and butterflies.
Where it will grow: Hardy to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 15 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 7 to 11; find your zone)
Water requirement: Moderate to low, once established
Light requirement: Full sun
Mature size: 3 to 6 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide
Plants reseed, but not aggressively, and can be transplanted as seedlings to spread among other garden beds. Flowers, which bloom from summer up until frost, attract bees and butterflies.
Where it will grow: Hardy to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 15 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 7 to 11; find your zone)
Water requirement: Moderate to low, once established
Light requirement: Full sun
Mature size: 3 to 6 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide
Looking for more garden inspiration? Browse photos of landscapes. (Tip: Use the filters at the top of the page to refine your results by region.)
More: Work with a landscape designer in your area
More: Work with a landscape designer in your area
In this English walled garden in Brede Valley, Sussex, purple vervain provides the planted border’s tallest flowers. Silhouetted against a brick wall, the purple flowers bloom from summer through mid-fall, adding interest and a food source for native pollinators during the growing season.
“We like to use Verbena bonariensis to extend the seasonal interest of a border, because it flowers up until the first frost,” says landscape architect Marian Boswall, who designed the garden. “We like to use plants which increase biodiversity, and Verbena bonariensis encourages butterflies, syrphid flies and lacewings into the garden.”
Find a landscape designer on Houzz