Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Long-lived perennials, 1 by speediebean

speediebean wrote:
I've just read through here for the first time, and I notice there's one plant not mentioned that I think might work well for you, Happy, on that slope. Verbena Canadensis "Homestead Purple". I've got a HUGE spread of this verbena at the front of one of my beds where I wasn't so stringent in amending the soil, and it's flourishing like mad wild fire. From what I read, deer do not like it, and it's been blooming for me this year so far since early(ish) Spring; last year it kept on blooming until about mid-December... then again, we had a particularly mild winter. The soil it's growing in is mildly amended with compost, but for the most part it's rocky clay/sand. If you're going to be at Sally's Plant Swap next month, I'll be glad to bring you some! =)

I've attached a pic, this is what it was looking like in the middle of March. It's MUCH fuller now, and still covered in blooms. I just gave it a haircut a couple hours ago, but that's only because it over-hangs that little fence out into the lawn.. for an area like you'd want it, it wouldn't need pruning, and I rarely water it, I just let God do the watering for me. ;)

Oh, I should edit to note that the Verbena is the spreading purple stuff in the background, behind the patch of Petunias. It's a low-growing spreader, only about 8-10 inches tall.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2012 12:23 PM