Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida) is a Texas native that is a short-statured perennial that sports a halo of purple blooms and widely dissected medium green leaves. It can grow in full sun or part shade.
Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida) is a Texas native that is a short-statured perennial that sports a halo of purple blooms and widely dissected medium green leaves. It can grow in full sun or part shade.
Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida) is a Texas native that is a short-statured perennial that sports a halo of purple blooms and widely dissected medium green leaves. It can grow in full sun or part shade.
It looks like spring is finally here! Here’s a great Texas native plant for your landscapes: Glandularia bipinnatifida, known as Prairie Verbena in Texas, and also as Dakota Mock Vervain and the poetic Spanish Moradilla, meaning “Little Purple One.” Its heaviest bloom is in the spring and there’s a bonus — its flowering time isn’t just in the spring season; it flowers from March through October.
Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida) is a Texas native that is a short-statured perennial that sports a halo of purple blooms and widely dissected medium green leaves. It can grow in full sun or part shade.
Courtesy photo/Avon Burton
Prairie Verbena is a short-lived, short-statured deciduous perennial growing to one foot tall and one and a half feet wide with widely dissected medium green leaves. Its flowers, usually in the purple hues, are borne in clusters with each flower having five petals. It readily reseeds. You’ll probably see it on roadsides and in meadows and fields, if you look. It is found widely in Texas and ranges to Central America. It prefers grassy, prairie habitats in nature. Prairie Verbena is in the large verbena family, which also contains Texas native favorites Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) and Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides).
If you want to plant it in your own yard, Prairie Verbena thrives in partial shade to full sun in a range of soil pH and soil types. It prefers dry to somewhat moist sites and must be well drained. Prairie Verbena should be watered well when planting it or its seed. It is drought tolerant except in severe dry spells, so plant it in a spot where it won’t receive regular water.
Prairie Verbena is well-suited for home gardens. It attracts butterflies and bees, with its flowers providing a nectar source. It is deer resistant. Prairie Verbena is easy to grow and can be propagated by cuttings or by seed. Consider planting Prairie Verbena instead of non-native Perwinkle, Petunia or Begonia. Companion species include Texas Bluebonnets, (Lupinus texensis), Zexmenia (Wedelia texana), Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea), milkweeds like Antelope Horn (Asclepias asperula), Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata), and Sundrops (Calylophus berlandieri).
Look for the NICE! Plant of the Season signs and information sheets at a participating North Texas nursery, which include Hartwell’s Nursery in Lewisville, Denton’s Meador Nursery and Painted Flower Farm, and Shades of Green Nursery in Frisco. Thank you for using native plants in your landscapes.
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Becca Dickstein is a member of the Trinity Forks Chapter, Native Plant Society of Texas, which meets 6:30 p.m. the fourth Thursday in January through October in Denton via Zoom. Visitthe NPSOT chapter websitefor details. In-person meetings will resume when it is safe to do so. Dr. Dickstein is also a member of UNT’s Biological Sciences faculty.
