Verbenas are for butterflies

California is home to many different verbenas and their cousins, the Four O’Clocks, all of which carry beautiful purple blooms that butterflies love. They can be found from the Channel Islands into the desert, so there is a verbena for every garden.

Lilac Verbena (Verbena lilacina) is endemic to Cedros Island, which means that it is restricted in its natural range to that area alone. However, it is a fabulous garden plant, especially on the coast, with a mounding shape and stunning bloom that requires some regular water and good drainage to thrive. This is a good verbena for tailored gardens.

Native to the south coast and foothills are the California Vervain (Verbena lasiostachys) and the California Four O’Clock (Mirabilis californica). These both grow in varied environments and are versatile garden plants.

Vervain is never without a butterfly and the Four O’ Clock will often give a second bloom in the fall if cut back by half mid-summer. Low amounts of supplemental water alone will often extend their bloom from spring through the summer months.

In open ground Vervain in particular will reseed itself aggressively, making it best used in naturalistic settings.

In the desert there is the amazing Sand Verbena (Abroniavillosa) carpeting washes for miles and filling the air with a sweet, complex perfume. Though short-lived, this one is so beautiful it is worth growing anywhere, coast to desert.

Verbenas and their cousins tend to be either annuals or short-lived perennials. Judicious pruning and light watering through the warm months will optimize their performance, maximizing the active bloom period for all, extending the overall lifespan of the perennials and keeping your yard the butterfly hotspot on your block.

Clayton Tschudy is an ecological landscape designer and the assistant manager of Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery in Escondido. .

To comment on this article, online visit http://www.thevillagenews.com.