Native Biennial
Sun Exposure: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist , Wet
Height: up to 6'
Bloom Time: June - October
Bloom Color: Blue, Purple
Resistant: Deer
Attracts: Native Bees, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Birds
Pollinator Benefit: Larval Host for the Common Buckeye butterfly; Special Value to Native Bees (Recognized by pollination ecologists as attracting large numbers of native bees.)
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Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is a 2-6 ft., stout-stemmed perennial with numerous, pencil-like flower spikes branched upwards like the arms of a candelabra. Each flower spike has a ring of blue-purple flowers; the flowers at the bottom of the spike bloom first, and the ring of flowers appears to advance upward to the tips of the spike. The stiff, pencil-like spikes are at the top of a square, grooved stem and its branches.
This species is a member of the verbena family (family Verbenaceae), which includes about 75 genera and 3,000 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees, mostly of tropical and warm temperate regions. Among them, teak is a highly prized furniture wood, and Vervain, Lantana, Lippia or Frog Fruit, and Chase Tree or Vitex are grown as ornamentals.
Bumblebees are among the important pollinators. In ancient times the plant was thought to be a cure-all among medicinal plants and the genus name is Latin for "sacred plant."
Source: www.wildflower.org