Yes, verbena easy to grow once you give it full sun and soil that drains well. This plant asks very little of you after it gets going. Water it once a week, give it some sun, and it does the rest on its own for months.
I started growing verbena for beginners when I was brand new to gardening and had no clue what I was doing. I stuck a trailing variety in a big pot on my sunny patio and watered it once a week. That was it. The plant bloomed from May through October without me doing much beyond the odd trim to keep it tidy. It was one of the first plants that made me feel like I could garden.
One key tip for new gardeners is to buy started plants from a nursery rather than growing from seed. Clemson Extension notes that seed-grown verbena tends to fail in hot, humid climates. Plants grown from cuttings at nurseries handle heat and humidity much better. These types are bred to perform well in real garden conditions, not just in a greenhouse. You'll have far better luck with a $5 nursery plant than a packet of seeds.
Verbena barely needs any water once it puts down roots. Clemson says to water just once per week if you get less than 1 inch of rain. NC State lists verbena as tolerant of drought, poor soil, deer, and rabbits. That's a short care list for a plant that gives you nonstop color all season. I've forgotten to water my container verbena for ten days during a cool stretch and it bounced right back with no damage at all.
The best low-maintenance verbena types clean themselves up without any help from you. Self-cleaning varieties like Superbena, EnduraScape, and Meteor Shower drop their spent blooms on their own. You don't need to deadhead them to keep new flowers coming. They also handle summer heat without fading or going dormant like some older types used to do.
Start With A Container
- Pot size: Use a 12-inch pot with drainage holes so the roots have room to spread and extra water flows out the bottom.
- Soil mix: Fill your pot with a light potting mix that drains fast and won't hold too much water around the roots.
- Easy control: Containers let you move the plant to follow the sun and bring it inside if a late frost threatens in spring.
Feed Once At Planting
- Fertilizer type: Mix a controlled-release fertilizer into the soil when you plant and it feeds your verbena for 3 to 4 months on its own.
- No extra feeding: You won't need to add liquid fertilizer every week like some plants demand, which saves you time and effort.
- Avoid overfeeding: Too much fertilizer pushes leaf growth at the cost of blooms, so one dose at planting is all your verbena needs.
Water Only When Dry
- Finger test: Push your finger 1 inch into the soil and only water if it feels dry at that depth. Wet soil means you wait.
- Frequency: Most verbena in pots needs water every 5 to 7 days depending on heat and rain, so you don't have to hover over it.
- Signs of overwater: Yellow leaves and mushy stems tell you the soil is too wet and you need to cut back on watering right away.
Verbena is one of the best plants for anyone just getting into gardening. Pick a self-cleaning variety, put it in a sunny container, and water when the soil feels dry. You'll get months of bright blooms with almost no work, and that early success will give you the push to try growing even more plants next season.
Read the full article: Verbena Plant: Varieties, Care and Uses
