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roper2008

Flower I.D.

roper2008
12 years ago

I received seeds to this flower in a group swap last year. It

was labeled as pink verbenia (perennial). I'm wondering if

it's really a verbenia.

Sorry sometimes when I try to make pictures smaller it doesn't

work.

Here is the leaves

Comments (9)

  • crackingtheconcrete
    12 years ago

    Hi :)
    That looks a lot like physosteigia or obedient plant to me :)

  • roper2008
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you. It sure looks like it. I really like the flowers and so
    do the bumblebee's. I've also read that it's invasive. I wonder
    why they call it the obedient plant.

  • girlgroupgirl
    12 years ago

    Obedient plant is not "invasive" it is a native plant to your region Roper. It is *exuberant* :) It likes it's space, as many natives do, when it is happy. Mine is unhappy, so I have three beautifully blooming miniature spires of pink, which I always tend to have...and nothing more (read this: I want a big 'o patch of it, NOW). It is called obedient plant because if you bend the flower head area it stays in position.
    Cool, huh? Great for flower arranging (try winding it around a pencil into a spiral!).
    I think it sure looks pretty in your garden. I love it with that yellow.

  • Annie
    12 years ago

    Yup, that is Obedient Plant.
    I planted Native OP in several areas. In two areas it spread like crazy. But, it is easy enough to pull out. In dry areas, it hasn't spread much, but in beds with moist soil, it did. Just so you know.
    Mine doesn't look pretty this year with our heat and drought.
    Yours is beautiful!! Great photo! (I like bigger photos - you can see more details).
    ~Annie

  • soxxxx
    12 years ago

    There is a native one in this area that is a pale lilac. It is prolific in some roadside ditches.

    I have those and I purchased some that are a darker purple.

    They do spread, but are shallow rooted and easy to pull up.

    I have three different "stands" and the armadillos have plowed into all of them, but some are surviving.

  • roper2008
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the info because I really like it, and it blooms when a
    lot of my flowers are fading away. My sister has a clump and it
    is blooming nicely too. Now I can tell her the real name.

  • gardenweed_z6a
    12 years ago

    Physostegia virginiana/obedient plant. There's a white one called Miss Manners that's supposed to be better-behaved and not spread so much. My neighbor gave me some native pink back when I first moved here but when I read about how fast it spreads, I yanked it out. That was 4-5 years ago and it still comes up every year where I originally planted it. Yours is a very pretty color and looks quite happy in your garden.

  • flora_uk
    12 years ago

    By the way 'verbenia' isn't a plant name. Maybe the seed sender meant 'Verbena' a genus of which there are many species and cultivars.

    And don't worry about the picture size - I think most people here love BIG pictures.

  • Annie
    12 years ago

    Obedient plant looks very pretty grown with Goldenrod. They bloom at the same time too.
    Don't plant the wild Goldenrod, though. It is VERY invasive.

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