Your Home, Garden and Travel

Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination' blooms spring, summer, fall until...

It's supposed to be an annual, but I'm not convinced!  Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination' bloomed from early spring 2011 and there were still blooms around in December in some pockets of my garden.

Rated as an annual by most sources, every plant returned, making this verbena as hardy as any zone 7b perennial that I grow. It must take a seriously cold winter to kill it off. Thinking that 'Imagination' was a tender annual, I allowed it to self-sow.

Wait—there's more! I sowed seeds again in fall 2011. Maybe too many seeds! While it is lovely, meandering around tall plants and over short plants, it could easily takeover the garden. That said, it's easy to pull out. The color is a soft-purple, making it compatible with every color in my garden.

Don't worry about watering or babying this 'annual' as it is a tough plant for full sun to partial shade. Never drooping or complaining, it blooms continuously for three seasons.  Deer, rabbits, voles and even a groundhog passed on this plant.

If you don't know what to plant as a meandering ground cover, just use this 'Imagination' verbena.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.