Homestead Purple Verbena August 30, 2015

This perennial verbena was spotted by two University of Georgia horticultural professors (both very well known experts in the fields of perennials and woody plants) as they were driving through the countryside.  It was growing on some property.  They stopped and asked the owner of the homestead about the plant, but she didn't know its history, it had been growing there for as long as she had been living there.  They took some cuttings, and the rest is history.  This plants grows vigorously, has a spreading habit, and will root along the branching stems.  Really pretty.  I bought a flat of tiny plants this spring and planted them in four different beds in the Rose Garden.  It is a great front of the border plant, or for use anywhere you want something that trails along the ground.  I have grown it before, and my recollection is that it is a evergreen.  But once winter is here I will see if it retains its greenery.