Gardening : Tough Perennial With a Lot of Wanderlust : <i> Verbena rigid</i> a is a strong survivor that can be planted near and around walkways.
Though I love nothing better than trying something new, there are a few plants in my own garden that I could not live without. They are not the biggest or the prettiest, but fill some role that is indispensable. The best example is a tough little perennial named Verbena rigida.
Rigida refers to the sturdy stems and leaves that are almost abrasive and are strong enough to survive an occasional collision with a dog or cat or even getting stepped on by the gardener himself. I find it tough enough to grow in and around paths, although it decides precisely where.
Like many perennials this one spreads on tuberous roots that travel just beneath the soil, never venturing so deep as to be irretrievable. In fact, should it get a little out of hand, it can be pulled out with a simple tug.
During 10 years in my garden, it has spread slowly. It is a true wanderer, seldom appearing in the same place in succeeding years. It can find it’s way into the middle of other plants and has even ventured into the lawn where it gets mowed with the grass, but most of it grows in open ground or between stepping stones. I do not consider it a pest because it has only a few leaves--on just a few stems--so does not overwhelm even the daintiest of plants. It only grows about a foot to 18 inches tall.
Blooms When Others Don’t
It blooms most of summer and fall but it is in late spring and early summer that it is so indispensable--after the burst of spring flowers have faded--but before summer has taken off. The garden can look quite bedraggled at this time of the year, with many things needing cutting back and with outright holes here and there where something has finished, but you would never notice because the brilliant pure purple of the verbena steals the show.
There is also a lovely variety with soft lilac flowers, appropriately named ‘Lilacina’, but it does not have nearly the impact. Mix the two for a little variety. It also seems less rambunctious, though I haven’t grown it as long. The plain purple Verbena rigida is so at home in gardens, that it apparently has naturalized in parts of the South. It is native to Argentina.
That it has naturalized in the South suggests that it likes water, and it does, but it also can survive drought. It needs little other care. When the flowers are finished, simply cut the stems all the way to the ground, remembering that it will not come back in that spot but a few inches away in fresh ground.
Not to Be Confused
There is one trick worth mentioning: The leaves that are left in the fall will make poor flowers next summer, and look pretty ratty all winter, so they are best cut completely off. The plant will survive underground.
I would have hesitated even mentioning this plant a few years ago because it was so scarce at nurseries, but now it has become widely available, though you may not find it at the first nursery you try. Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar, Armstrong and Southern California Nursery in West Los Angeles, Burkards in Pasadena and Sperling in Calabasas are several sure sources.
This verbena, by the way, should not be confused with more common ground covering Verbena peruviana . The latter makes a fast, flat mat spreading three or more feet. This is also a fine plant, blooming mostly in summer. It is not as tough, or as airy as Verbena rigida but is a more substantial plant and unexcelled in the hot interior and desert climates. There are also similar verbenas (called “garden verbenas,” or Verbena hybrida that are grown as annuals.
