Garden Tapestry

This lovely plant is at its best in late summer, with its tall airy stems topped with bright purple flowerheads wafting gently in summer breezes. But don’t let its delicate appearance fool you! It is very tough, a perennial that survives the harshest winter conditions and comes up smiling. A strong and cold autumn or winter wind doesn’t make any difference to this plant, it might as well be like the breezes we have now. And those flowerheads dry very nicely on their stems and last all through the winter – they look great frosted or covered with a bobble of snow. It probably has to do with the strong but flexible stems, almost wiry to the touch. The leaves also are tiny but quite sharp and tough. Verbena bonariensis isn’t like one of the soft grasses that you want to caress, but more like pampas grass that is very harsh but looks deceptively gentle.

Easy to grow from seed, it flowers in the first year but really develops after a couple of seasons into a beautiful tall clump. Perfect for a screening ‘wall’ or ‘hedge’ in a garden where its height (up to six feet) is welcome without any heaviness or darkness. Sow seed in midsummer or very early spring and be patient as they take a long time to germinate. Then plant the small clumps directly out into the garden bed. They are disease resistant and even the slugs and snails won’t touch them. What more could you ask for? In my opinion, it is an almost perfect plant.