The early butterfly gets the verbena: Do you have them planted?

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

Norman Winter is a horticulturist. He is a former director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. Follow him on Facebook at Norman Winter “The Garden Guy.” See more columns by Norman at SavannahNow.com/lifestyle/home-garden/.

Swallowtails were early at The Garden Guy’s house this year. Thank goodness I had Superbena verbenas in full bloom. It is as if they had been given the task of announcing the arrival of spring and the butterfly season. March 22, I photographed an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Superbana Royale Chambray verbena.

Hopefully, your first thought might be "if it was in full bloom March 22, when did you plant it?" and the answer would be in October. That is also when I planted Superbena Royale Plum Wine which offers one of the rarest orchid colors in the garden.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Now before you start thinking it is late April and you have missed the verbena boat, know that my Superbena Imperial Blue was planted in April of 2021 and it is in full bloom. My Superbena Stormburst and Superbena Whiteout are three years old.

There is another remarkable aspect to this year’s verbena bloom and that is that on March 13, nine days before my first swallowtail nectaring photo, our low temperature reached 20 to 21 degrees. Another freeze occurred the next day too. My verbenas which are planted in both containers and in the ground showed there was no difference in their cold hardiness. Your first inclination would have been that those in containers would have been hurt badly but it was simply not the case.

Credit: Courtesy photo

As a horticulturist on the speaking circuit, I mostly come face to face with garden club members and Master Gardeners who tend to be "seasoned," if you know what I mean. Most of them have grown verbenas whether they are Superbenas or another variety.

My fear is that the young gardeners may be passing by these verbenas unaware of not only their blooming possibility, and their ability to bring in pollinators including hummingbirds. They also may not realize the potential of a return performance for a year or two maybe more. Even if treated as an annual, their value to the garden is worth every penny spent.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Superbenas need a lot of sun with a soil that drains freely. This is one of the reasons that they are so easy in containers. Once you have prepared your planting beds as such, you will have one of the best blooming ground covers you can buy.

Superbenas need to be in an active state of growth to get the most riotous blooming performance. This requires you to get to know them, feed them occasionally and cut them back to generate new growth. Leaving woody, tired stems sprawling in the garden or hanging over the rim of your containers will rarely yield the performance you desire.

Credit: Courtesy photo

If Superbenas could speak they would tell you they were created to grow and bloom. Cutting out tired stems, and giving a light fertilization will reward you with lush green growth and weeks of blooms.

Superbena verbenas are vigorous plants that will grow 12 inches tall and up to 36 inches wide. The Superbena Royale group was bred to be compact and perform in smaller containers. They will also reach close to 12-inches tall but with a spread up to 24 inches. This was my first time planting Superbena Royale verbenas in October and will tell you I was thrilled that they tolerated my Zone 8a winter temps so well.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Both the Superbena and Superbena Royale verbenas have become an integral part of my container designs as I combine them with Superbells calibrachoas, Supertunia petunias, Lemon Coral sedum and all colors of heuchera.

Spring is here, which means butterfly season is here too so don’t procrastinate for a minute. Get the award-winning Superbenas incorporated into your containers and landscape beds.