Description There’s something so striking about spiky blooms, particularly when you pair them with daisy-form flowers and graceful grasses. Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta) is one of my particular favorites, because it flowers so abundantly in mid- to late summer; the spikes are a bit plumper than those of blue vervain (V. hastata); and they’re a nice medium purple that looks great with a variety of other colors. The usual height in flower is about 2 feet tall. Overall, the effect is more like that of a garden plant than a wildling. It does actually seem to do better in a border setting, or a cultivated meadow garden, than in a natural meadow, where there’s more competition and less open soil for it to reseed and perpetuate itself. In either place, it may be short-lived, though self-sown seedlings can allow the patch return each year. Besides being beautiful, hoary vervain serves a useful purpose as the host plant for the common buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia), and it’s visited by bees, wasps, and other pollinators. Native to much of North America. Full sun; average to dryish soil. Perennial; Zones 3 to 8. Collected in October 2025. At least 25 seeds. Unknown ecotype. Shipping to U.S. addresses only. Please read the germination information as well before ordering.
