Native Plant Highlight! Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)

Today’s post highlights the Verbena hastata, also known as Blue Vervain. I don't know about you but whenever I hear "Vervain" it brings my back to the days of watching The Vampire Diaries LOL. "Vervain is used to stop vampires from compelling humans. Its negative effects on vampires are a result of Nature's attempt to create a weakness for every strength that a vampire gained after being turned." Where are my vampire diary fans at? ;) I digress back to reality and the actual plant I am blogging about, Blue Vervain a Michigan native beauty.

I purchased two of these plants from a local Michigan native plant sale last summer. They were almost bloomed out and small in size. Not knowing exactly how tall they got I opted to plant them in the back portion of our front yard garden. Blue Vervain has a wonderful vertical structure and beautiful unique purple/blue blooms that start in July and last through September.

Blue Vervain will attract many pollinators including bees, wasps, hummingbirds, and butterflies. It is also a host plant for caterpillars of the Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia.

Surprisingly these plants over tripled their height since last year! To show how tall they actually are I posed with one LOL. I am standing next to it and it's almost as tall as me! Planting them in the back of the garden was a good choice and one that I would recommend in this type of garden setup. They would also make a great center plant for a free-standing round or "island" garden. The individual plants are biennial but may colonize slowly by rhizomes from the fibrous root system to create a perennial presence, in ideal conditions (see details below). Overall, this plant is a unique and beautiful addition to our pollinator garden. I love its great height and beautiful purple flowers. It's a perfect "backdrop" plant for our front yard garden.