The mystery of my Verbena Bonariensis
Lewis T
Posts: 31
For three years I have bought and tried to grow Verbena Bonariensis plants in my herbaceous border and last year managed to keep three in my middle garden border. However after the last rainy winter, despite protecting them with large plastic bells, one solitary pathetic 3 foot stem appeared and that was it. However by my back door, suddenly, instead of a white solanum climber, I have several plants with similar leaves. I did not sew them and they have popped up in various pots with other plants all over my patio - which is a few feet above my middle garden. This week one flowered and it was a V B so how did that happen? There is a wall dividing the two areas and I am completely mystified but happy too. I think I'd better pot them on and keep the pots in my gazebo over winter.The wonders of nature!!!
Posts
I call that Sod's law Lewis
Thats funny, I sowed some Rubekia in two drifts in the center bed and dozens of VB grew in between them. It was a new bed and i have never sown VB. Me thinks they been drinking at the seed packing factory
I always have seeds popping up where I least expect them - sometimes that's good - sometimes not so good. I think it's my own compost - I probably have too many viable seeds going in the bins.
A couple of years ago we had a really bad summer & I had a correspondingly bad tomato crop. I threw the tomato plants in the compost bins with green tomatoes still attached. Have been digging out tomato plants from round the garden ever since. Have even potted a few of them up and had decent fruit from them!
Lewis, VB like really free draining soil so do not overwinter very well in my heavy soil. I always let at least one plant go to seed and sow the seed in a gritty compost about now so I know I will have plants next year.
Thanks for the tip Topbird. I actually didn't think of my compost - as everything that's healthy goes in to my three solid compost areas. It's quite possible that some stray VB seeds went in when I mulched all my pots last Spring. Well one mystery solved! I never keep potato or tomato haulms tho because they cause blight and I don't keep kidney beans leaves either if they've started getting rusty but we do shred our leaves and twigs as we live next door to a public park so get rather a lot.
Tomato seeds will survive a sewerage plant process!
Verbena Bonariensis in my garden, does not get re-cycled through compost, but simply self seeds with or without help from birds and insects. It means that come September I will dig out all this year's little seedlings and overwinter them in the g/h.
If it is a warmish winter, like last year, then this year's plants will keep going, but normally I lose them in a cold winter. So next spring the over-wintered seedlings will get planted out.
Found three new tiny ones in my hanging baskets on my upstairs balcony today so it has to be from my compost bin mulch but I will overwinter them as you suggest artjak thanks.