Growing Imagination Verbena Garden Seeds
- Taxonomy: Verbena speciosa
- Seed Type: Annual
- Sow Indoors or Outdoors: Start seeds indoors 12 – 14 weeks before final frost date. Germination can be slow and may require 14 – 28 days in complete darkness. Transplant seedlings when there are at least two true sets of leaves.
- Days to Maturity: 84 – 98 days
- Hardiness Zone: 7 – 10
- Planting Depth: 1/8"
- Plant Spacing: 18"- 24"
- Growth Habit: 12 – 20” tall bedding shrub with 12 – 24” spread clustered in ½” blooms
- Soil Preference: Average, medium-moist, well-drained
- Light Preference: Full sun
- Diseases/Pests/Troubleshooting: Avoid overhead watering as much as possible to keep foliage dry and free of mold and mildew. Can tolerate partial shade but flowers best in full sun. Aphids, white flies, and mites can be minimized by pruning dead foliage.
- Color: Violet-blue
Start Imagination verbena seeds indoors 12 – 14 weeks before final frost date. Verbena germination can be slow and may require 14 – 28 days in complete darkness. Transplant verbena Imagination seedlings either indoors or outdoors when there are at least two true sets of leaves. For direct outside sowing, plant verbena Imagination seeds ¼” deep and 18 – 24” apart in normal, medium-moist, and well-drained soil with full sun. Avoid overhead watering as much as possible to keep foliage dry and free of mold and mildew. Imagination verbenas can tolerate partial shade but flower best in full sun. Early and regular pruning of dead foliage will minimize aphid, mites, and white flies. Imagination verbena seeds mature at 84 – 98 days with 12 – 20” tall bedding shrubs with a 12 – 24” spread clustered in ½” blooms of vibrant blues and lavenders.
Verbena Imagination debuted as a 1993 All-American Selections (AAS) Flower Winner and 1993 Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winner for “exhibiting superior garden performance, and enduring summer heat, drought or severe weather.” Imagination verbenas are often referred to as moss verbena for its similarity to Verbena tenuisecta.