prairie wildflower
Hoary vervain
Verbena stricta
Also known as Hoary Verbena, Tall Vervain, Woolly Verbena
1 of 2Native to much of the USA and southern Canada
Ontario to Minnesota and Montana, south to Texas and New Mexico; also northern Idaho and northeastern Washington; naturalized elsewhere
- Light Full sun Sun tolerance
- Moisture Dry Moisture preference
- Zones 3–8 Cold to heat range
- Bloom Jun–Aug Flowering time
- Height up to 6 ft to 1.8 m
- Life cycle Annual or perennial Annual to perennial
In the garden
A prairie wildflower for full sun and lean, dry soil. Its purple flowers peak in July. At up to 6 ft, it needs room in meadows and sunny borders. It shrugs off drought once established. Hardy in USDA zones 3–8.
Growing conditions
Light
Full sun Partial shade Full shade
Moisture
Dry Moist Wet
Hardiness zones
Find your zone:
When it blooms
The Hoary vervain's purple flowers bloom June to August, peaking in July. This midsummer display draws bees and butterflies.
Hoary vervain blooms purpleFoliage
Pollinators & wildlife
- Bees Common Eastern Bumble Bee
also Western Honey Bee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Brown-belted Bumble Bee +79 more
Two-spotted Bumble Bee, American Bumble Bee, Ligated Furrow Bee, Bombus fervidus, Red-belted Bumble Bee, Hunt's Bumble Bee, Two-spotted Longhorn Bee, Perplexing Bumble Bee, Black-and-gold Bumble Bee, Half-black Bumble Bee, Orange-legged Furrow Bee, Agapostemon texanus, Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Brown-winged Striped Sweat Bee, Nevada Bumble Bee, Flat-tailed Leafcutter Bee, Sculptured Resin Bee, Golden Sweat Bee, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, Spurred Ceratina, Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Dark-veined Longhorn Bee, broad-handed leafcutter bee, Southern Plains Bumble Bee, Carlin's Mining Bee, Texas Leafcutter Bee, Common Longhorn Bee, Silky Striped Sweat Bee, Eastern Miner Bee, Megachile inimica, Petulant Leafcutter Bee, Say's Cuckoo Leafcutter Bee, Brown-winged Long-horned Bee, Squash Longhorn-Cuckoo, Texas Nomad Bee, Angeles Striped Sweat Bee, Cherry Mining Bee, Worthy Longhorn, Agile Longhorn Bee, Megachile brevis, Ceratina dupla, Triepeolus simplex, Thistle Longhorn-Cuckoo, Triepeolus cressonii, Big-cheeked Angled-Mason, Melissodes vernoniae, Nomada affabilis, Variable Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Anthidium psoraleae, white-winged sweat bee, Tickseed Longhorn Bee, Melissodes coloradensis, minor cuckoo sweat bee, Pseudopanurgus parvus, Pseudopanurgus passiflorae, Triepeolus concavus, Lunate Longhorn-cuckoo Bee, Xylocopa virginica virginica, Svastra obliqua, Two-banded Cellophane-cuckoo Bee, Megachile pyrrhothorax, Drury's Long-horned Bee, Melissodes tepaneca, Agapostemon viridulus, Hoplitis pilosifrons, Coelioxys brevis, Peponapis pruinosa, Ptilothrix bombiformis, Triepeolus nevadensis, Tetragona dissecta, Augochlorella persimilis, Coelioxys alternata, Svastra compta, Anthidiellum notatum boreale, Bellflower Resin Bee, Coelioxys germana, Svastra atripes, Coelioxys modesta, Calliopsis nebraskensis - Butterflies Monarch
also Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Red Admiral, Black Swallowtail +44 more
Pearl Crescent, Silver-spotted Skipper, Painted Lady, Gray Hairstreak, American Lady, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Variegated Fritillary, Common Checkered-Skipper and Allies, Viceroy, Clouded Sulphur, Eastern Black Swallowtail, Peck's Skipper, Checkered White, Common Wood-Nymph, Dun Skipper, Least Skipper, Wild Indigo Duskywing, American Copper, Tawny-edged Skipper, Polyommatus icarus, Common Sootywing, Aphrodite Fritillary, Melissa Blue, Broad-winged Skipper, Bronze Copper, Coral Hairstreak, Old World Swallowtail, Afranius Duskywing, Little Yellow, Byssus Skipper, Atrytone delaware, Wallengrenia egeremet, Polites origenes, Protographium marcellus, Mastor vialis, Speyeria aphrodite, Poanes taxiles, Speyeria coronis, Speyeria edwardsii, Thorybes daunus, Speyeria cybele, Polites coras, Elkalyce comyntas, Anosia plexippus - Flower flies Common Drone Fly
also Band-winged Bee Fly, Exoprosopa fasciata, Eastern Swiftwing +9 more
Bombylius atriceps, Eastern Catkin Fly, Truphloechus bellus, Macrocondyla lugubris, Anthrax analis, grasshopper bee fly, Geron rufipes, Rhynchanthrax parvicornis, Dioprosopa clavatus - Also visited by
- Moths:
Snowberry Clearwing, Acesias Buff Gem +2 more
Four-spotted Palpita Moth, Olive-shaded Bird-dropping Moth - Beetles:
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, Slender Flower Longhorn Beetle +1 more
Trichonius bellus
- Moths:
Butterflies that use this plant
Documented host and nectar records. Each links to a planting guide for that butterfly.
- American coppernectar
- American ladynectar
- Aphrodite fritillarynectar
- Black swallowtailnectar
- Checkered whitenectar
- Clouded sulphurnectar
- Common wood-nymphnectar
- Coral hairstreaknectar
- Eastern tailed-bluenectar
- Eastern tiger swallowtailnectar
- Edwards' hairstreaknectar
- Gray hairstreaknectar
- Great spangled fritillarynectar
- Little yellownectar
- Melissa bluenectar
- Monarch butterflynectar
- Painted ladynectar
- Pearl crescentnectar
- Red admiralnectar
- Silver-spotted skippernectar
- Variegated fritillarynectar
- Viceroynectar
- Zebra swallowtailnectar
Full plant details
Where it grows
- Habitat
- PrairieThe wild plant community it grows in.
- Native range
- Much of the USA and southern CanadaUnited States (21): AR, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, SD, TX, WA, WI, WY. Canada (1): ON. Where it grows wild on its own, by state and province.
- Native distribution
- Ontario to Minnesota and Montana, south to Texas and New Mexico; also northern Idaho and northeastern Washington; naturalized elsewhereThe same native range, usually more exact than the state list, and often noting where it has spread beyond it.
Growing conditions
- Light
- Full sunHow much sun it takes, from full sun to full shade.
- Moisture
- DryThe soil dampness it prefers, from dry to wet.
- Hardiness zones
- USDA 3–8 · Canadian 4–7The cold-to-heat climate range it survives.
- Soil
- Sandy soilsThe soils it grows in naturally.
- Soil texture
- Light to heavy (sandy to clay)The soil grade it prefers, from sand to clay.
- Soil pH
- Mildly acid to mildly alkalineThe acidity to alkalinity it tolerates (7 is neutral).
- Drought tolerance
- HighRelative to plants of the same type and region, inferred from where it grows, not a days-without-water figure.
Growth & form
- Height
- up to 6 ft (to 1.8 m)Typical mature height.
- Life cycle
- Annual or perennialWhether it lives a single season (annual), two (biennial), or returns for years (perennial).
Flowers, foliage & fruit
- Type
- WildflowerWhat kind of plant it is.
- Bloom
- Jun–AugWhen it flowers.
- Flower color
- PurpleThe bloom color, or colors.
- Fruit/Seeds
- Schizocarp; ripens Jun–SepThe seed or fruit it sets after flowering.
- Toxicity
- None knownWhether any part is poisonous to people or pets.