Prairie Verbena

Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida)

by Malissa Haslam

Prairie verbena is one of the first flowers to show up in our yards each spring. I first noticed a single mound several years ago, but after the good moisture of our 2018/2019 winter, it was rampant, particularly in the area with landscape rocks, where it gets absolutely no supplemental water. The plant grows from a taproot into a low mound with five-petaled, lightly fragrant flowers and hairy, grayish green foliage. At maturity the calyx surrounds four nutlets that look like cigar butts. It is found in fields, grasslands, and scrublands from most of the Great Plains states to southern California, as well as into the Southeast.

Early on, its name unknown to me, I called it “wild verbena” because it resembled the cultivar my mother often grew in her Alabama gardens. Upon researching, I learned that it does indeed belong to the Verbenaceae family, having the word “verbena” in its several common names: purple prairie verbena, Dakota vervain, Dakota mock vervain. Spanish speakers may know it as moradilla, meaning “little purple one,” although its blooms can also be pink or lavender. The genus name Glandularia means “with small glands”; bipinnatifida means “twice pinnately dissected,” referring to the leaves.

Landscape use: As a nectar source, prairie verbena attracts birds, bees, and butterflies. Being very xeric it makes an excellent companion in cactus gardens or xeristrips; its seeds may also be included with prairie mixes and native grasses. It would combine nicely with chocolate flower, California poppies, salvias, and gaillardias. It does well in containers with other drought-tolerant plants as well as sown in wildflower meadows and butterfly gardens since it readily reseeds itself (but not invasively so). This is a great plant for the far corner of your yard where the hose doesn’t reach since it requires virtually no maintenance.

Planting and care: Our front yard was landscaped about 45 years ago with the awful black plastic and bland rocks that prove to be the perfect environment for Glandularia bipinnatifida, indicating that it thrives in inorganic mulch as well as in bare dirt areas. Although it does best in poor soil with little water, it is also found in a wide range of soils, including clay and limestone. Prairie verbena is happiest in part shade, especially during our summers’ late afternoon heat. Trimming it back in mid-summer will give it a neater look as well as increase fall blooms. The plant is highly deer resistant and appears to be pest-free.

Propagation: Ideally you would sow seeds just prior to an early spring snow; the melting snow provides just the right amount of pressure for the seeds to be pushed to the perfect depth for germination. That said, volunteer seedlings are easy to dig up and transplant.

Plant type: perennial or annual herb

Bloom time: early spring to early fall

Size: 8 inches tall x 24 inches wide

Sun: full sun, part shade

Soil: sandy, clay, limestone

Water: low

USDA zones: 4–9

References:

High Plains Gardening, Glandularia (Verbena) bipinnatifida

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database, Glandularia bipinnatifida

Santa Fe Native Plant Project (SNaPP), A Guide to Native Plants for the Santa Fe Landscape

SEINet, Glandularia bipinnatifida