Veronica, also called Speedwell, is a carefree and easy-to-grow perennial with long spikes of small petals in purple, blue, pink, or white. Here’s how to grow veronica in your garden!
This attractive plant grows in clusters from 1 to 3 feet tall, and blooms from spring to autumn.
There is also a bushy ground cover variety (Veronica prostrata), which features dense clusters of flowers and grows to only about 10 inches tall.
PLANTING
Grow in moderately fertile, well-drained soil in full sun.
Plant in the spring. (Veronica can be sowed by seed in containers in a cold frame in autumn, but most people start this perennial as a transplant from the nursery.)
Loosen the soil and mix in compost. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the plant’s container.
When placing the plant in the hole, ensure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
Water thoroughly.
CARE
Water in the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
Stake tall varieties.
Keep covered with a thin layer of compost, followed by a 2-inch layer of mulch to retain moisture.
Deadhead to extend bloom time.
After the first killing frost, cut back stems to an inch or two above the soil line.
Divide perennials in autumn or spring every few years.
PESTS/DISEASES
Scale insects
Downy mildew
Powdery mildew
Rust
Leaf smut
Root rot
RECOMMENDED VARIETIES
‘Crater Lake Blue’ is a mat-forming perennial that grows 12 to 18 inches tall with beautiful, deep gentian blue flowers in early summer.
‘Sunny Border Blue’ is a clump-forming perennial that grows to 20 inches tall and bears erect spikes of tubular, dark violet-blue flowers from early summer to late autumn.
‘Red Fox’ has very deep pink flowers on a narrow spike and grows as a mat-forming perennial to 12 inches tall, blooming from early to late summer.
‘Dick’s Wine’ is a ground cover that grows to about 10 inches tall and produces an abundance of rose-wine–colored blooms—so many that they actually hide the dark-green foliage.