This Tall, Airy Container Plant Creates Elegant Privacy on a Balcony – and Pollinators Love It Too
6 crucial tips for growing verbena in containers successfully
Growing verbena in containers is a great way to bring summer color and attract pollinators if you don’t have the luxury of a large garden. Any smaller space can be lifted by the long-lasting, cheerful blooms that a verbena bonariensis can provide. The slender, branching stems can also create a gentle screen on a balcony or patio, provided you get the conditions right for verbena to thrive.
Getting the drainage right tops the list of priorities, which determines the type of pot and compost you need to use. For guaranteed success growing verbena in pots, you should also find a sunny spot, be careful with watering, and regularly fertilize the plants to keep the verbena flowering for longer.
If you are looking for a low-maintenance plant that can bring quiet beauty to a deck, patio, or balcony, and also support your local bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, then you should consider growing verbena in containers. To ensure yours thrive, here are six vital points you need to know.
Can I Grow Verbena in a Pot?
Yes, growing verbena in containers is a great way to enjoy their bright colors in smaller spaces, or if your soil is too damp to grow these pollinator magnets permanently in the ground.
Verbena is a large genus that includes different annual and perennial varieties. Bedding verbenas can add bright color in containers for the summer, but hardy perennial verbenas can also be grown successfully in pots.
If you want to grow perennial verbena varieties in pots, it is beneficial to opt for compact cultivars, such as the ‘Lollipop’ or ‘Purple Homestead’. Get a live Verbena ‘Purple Homestead’ plant at Fast Growing Trees that reaches just 1-2 feet tall and attracts pollinators to its vibrant purple blooms.
1. Pick a Pot With Drainage Holes
Growing verbena in pots successfully requires getting the drainage right, as the plants really dislike sitting in sodden soil for long periods. If you want yours to be happy and bloom plentifully, stop them from sitting in standing water; they will sulk and may even suffer root rot.
A key part of getting the conditions right is making sure any pot or planter has drainage holes in the bottom so excess water can escape. Check that any pot has these before using it, though it is easy to add drainage holes to planters made of any material if yours doesn’t. It is a necessary step to ensure verbena enjoys container life.
A container for growing verbena in pots can be any material, allowing you to pick one for your style and budget. Bedding verbenas are even suitable plants for hanging baskets in summer, where trailing types can cascade over the edges for a waterfall of colorful blooms.
They can sometimes be more expensive, but terracotta pots offer a stylish Mediterranean feel and do help prevent waterlogging. This terracotta pot at Walmart is inexpensive, is large enough at 12 inches to grow verbena (either bedding types or a compact perennial cultivar), and comes with a drainage hole in the bottom.
2. Use Well-Draining Compost
This advice fits well with point one, as it is about ensuring that verbena in pots don’t sit in wet soil for extended periods. A good potting soil for container gardening needs to hold onto moisture, but also drain well to prevent root rot – so choose wisely.
It is imperative to fill pots with a well-draining potting mix. I would go for a product like this organic potting mix, available at Burpee, which contains moisture-retentive but well-draining coconut coir, as well as fertilizer to feed plants with essential nutrients for up to three months.
It might seem like a quick alternative, but never cut corners and use old garden soil in your pots. The soil is too heavy and dense, meaning it will sit far too wet, and your verbena will certainly not be happy in it.
3. Place the Container in a Sunny Spot
Verbenas like the sun, and will flower their best in a bright, sunny spot in the garden. Place the pot somewhere that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight every day. This amount of sun guarantees strong stems and bountiful blooms.
The plants can cope with a bit of light shade, but you will get fewer blooms. However, give them too much shade and the stems of taller varieties will be leggy as they desperately search for sunlight.
The one scenario in which shade is beneficial for verbena is restricted to growers in warmer, southern US hardiness zones. In such a climate, a spot where the plants can get some respite from the exceptionally hot afternoon sun can protect against heat stress.
4. Keep on Top of Watering
When growing any plants in a container garden, they need more watering than their counterparts in the ground, especially when the temperatures rise in summer.
The secret to growing verbena in containers well is to check them often and allow the top inch or two to dry out between waterings.
In the peak of summer, verbenas in pots may need watering every day or two. Whereas some plants like consistently moist soil, verbenas do not mind the soil drying out a little. To water plants in containers effectively, check the top few inches of the soil.
If the top 1-2 inches feel dry, it is time to water plants. If that top zone still feels moist, step away. Don’t add more water when the top inches are wet, as overwatering plants is a sure-fire way to have poorly verbenas or root rot.
A soil moisture meter, available at Amazon, can be a sound investment to help you decide when to water a container plant.
5. Feed Plants Every Few Weeks
Verbenas growing in flower beds can get all the essential nutrients they need from the soil; they don’t need fertilizing throughout the season.
It is a different case when growing verbena in containers, though, as these plants don’t have such an infinite resource. They can use up all the nutrients in the limited potting mix, and need regular fertilizing to keep them flowering gloriously all summer long.
A good potting mix is likely to contain feed for the first month in the pot. If it doesn’t, use a granular, balanced fertilizer when you plant the verbena into the container (such as this organic plant food from Burpee).
After that first month, the plants will benefit from a dose of a liquid tomato feed every week or two. Such products are high in phosphorus and potassium, which encourage ample flowering and provide vital nutrients for your verbena to put on a long-lasting display.
A natural alternative is to make comfrey fertilizer by chopping up the leaves of this attractive, beneficial plant and steeping them in water to make a tea. This brew is rich in nutrients and can be diluted and used when you water plants.
6. Overwinter Container Plants Indoors
Hardy perennial verbenas can overwinter outdoors in US hardiness zones 7-11. However, verbenas in containers are more susceptible to cold – you may need to protect pots from frost to ensure they survive the winter.
It can be as simple as moving the pot to a protected spot, such as a porch or greenhouse, for the cold months. Alternatively, if you have many containers, you can move pots together for winter to retain warmth. Grouping them against a south-facing wall or beneath an overhang can provide extra security against the elements.
Individual pots can be wrapped in burlap or winter pot covers (you can get a four-pack of winter pot protectors at Amazon) to protect the precious roots from low temperatures and increase the chances of your verbena springing back into life come spring.
If you want an insurance policy, you can take verbena cuttings in summer, just in case your plants succumb to winter. The cuttings will need to be kept protected from the cold before being moved outdoors in spring, and they will flower that summer.
What to Shop
You can grow verbena from seed. 'Vanity' is a compact cultivar with strong stems, neat foliage, and dainty purple-blue clusters of flowers.
A potting mix suitable for all types of plants, including flowers, vegetables, and shrubs, that can feed plants for up to six months.
A stylish heavy-gauge galvanized steel watering can with a two-gallon capacity. It has a rosette that can be added or removed, depending on what you are watering.
To keep any verbena blooming for longer, it is advisable to deadhead verbena throughout the summer months.
Cutting back old blooms stops the plant putting energy into producing seeds, and also reduces the height of the stems. Start once the first blooms are fading, and it will encourage a flush of new flowers to prolong the blooming period.
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