Verbena: Everything You Need To Know Before Planting

Well-tended verbena plants are incredibly pollinator-friendly, which may be one of their best uses in the garden. Monarch butterflies and bumblebees, in particular, are drawn to verbenas for their sweet scent and abundant nectar. But they're not the only ones who will come check out your garden once they see the verbenas blossoming. Monarch Butterfly Garden offers a long list of pollinators likely to pay a visit that includes honey bees, hummingbirds and hummingbird moths, and a slew of other butterfly species. Their resident gardeners suggest pairing verbenas with milkweed, which is another plant species loved by monarch butterflies.

Purpletop verbena plants have a strong wildflower vibe to them. With that, they can add a dash of height and texture to spice up an otherwise manicured landscape. Because their stalks grow tall, their leaves are small, and their flowers only pop out at the very top of each spike, verbenas maintain a breezy feeling of airiness around them. This makes them a good companion for shorter plants and flowers because they don't block out that all-important sunlight. Verbenas are also known to keep flowering right on into the autumn months, making them a perfect option for filling in areas that would otherwise fall vacant as the season rolls on. What starts out as a pretty violet complement to your early summer bloomers may still be going strong when the chrysanthemums and dahlias arrive.

Purpletop vervain flowers can tolerate a significant amount of drought, so, according to the Division of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, if you live in an area with an average amount of yearly rainfall, you won't need to water them. University horticulturists further explain that plants can be shaped early on if you're aiming for less height and more width. Pinching young stems at the point of a leaf node keeps the height of the plant low and convinces it to grow more stems from the pinch point. This in turn creates a bushier plant that may be more appropriate for your landscape.

Deadheading is highly recommended by gardeners in the know. First, there's no reason to settle for one round of blooms at the beginning of the season. Deadheading encourages flowers to blossom again and again throughout the year. Second, verbena are adept self-seeders. Failing to remove spent flower heads could easily result in a garden overrun by little purple flowers popping up everywhere. They might be beautiful at first but their sheer volume is likely to be much more than you bargained for.

Powdery mildew, a fungal disease that collects on leaves, is the only real issue to look out for. Per The Old Farmer's Almanac, the white spots that show up on leaves are unsightly and can slow growth but they don't do a ton of damage. Baking soda or milk mixed with water can be sprayed on leaves in lieu of commercial fungicides.

Classifying whether verbenas are toxic or not comes with a few caveats and finding consistent information can be difficult. Generally speaking, they are considered relatively safe and have not been included on any major lists of poisonous plants. There have also been some word-of-mouth reports of dogs getting sick after eating them. Quality Dog Resources puts it like this: There are dogs who munch on purpletop verbena and are left none the worse for wear; others not so much. It's important to note that, while it may cause a stomachache, symptoms are highly unlikely to get any more serious.

The tricky part is that different species of plants from the same botanical family can and will have different effects on people and animals when consumed, even if they seem almost indistinguishable at first glance. This absolutely holds true within the Verbenaceae family. Consider these three individual yet related species: Verbena bonariensis (purpletop), Aloysia citrodora (lemon verbena), and Lantana camara (lantanas). The purpletops are considered mostly harmless. The citrus burst of lemon verbena is a well-known and safe additive to cooking and aromatherapy. And the lantana, a very close cousin, should be kept far out of reach of pets because it's definitely poisonous.

The basic takeaway is to use caution. Keep pets out of the garden as much as you can and teach children not to eat anything other than known fruits and vegetables.

We've established that some types of verbena are simply ornamental while others can be used in the kitchen. Still, others have proven themselves to be beneficial when ingested medicinally. With a name like swamp verbena, it's hard to imagine wanting to put it anywhere near your mouth, but according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Verbena hastata has long been used as a folk medicine cure for ailments from depression to fevers and many things in between. Also called American blue swamp vervain, Plants for a Future goes on to claim that, when crushed and inhaled, the plant's dried flower petals can stop a nosebleed.

While also nontoxic just like the purpletop variety, excessive consumption of swamp verbena will probably result in some level of gastrointestinal distress, as is true with almost any plant. Another note of caution when using Verbena hastata medicinally is that it can be contraindicated when combined with hormone therapy or blood pressure medication (per the USDA). Check with your doctor before taking any verbena-based herbal supplements.