Features Flowers
2022 is the Year of the Verbena

Which annual will be trending in the spotlight for 2022? Why, it’s the verbena.

While there are perennial types of verbena on the market, for the purposes of this program we will focus on annual types, many of which are known as Verbena x hybrida. 

The original species were native to the Americas and Asia but have since been refined and bred for today’s gardening consumer. National Garden Bureau (NGB) members chose to highlight the verbena because of the many different colours and types that are available. When grown in the right conditions (full sun with good air circulation), these plants need little extra care to thrive and produce blooms all summer long, making them a great choice for home gardeners. Given the range of colours that verbena come in, there is surely something for everyone’s décor and tastes. 

Plan ahead for the 2022 season by selecting some of these popular verbena series:

Cadet – An upright verbena that flowers one week earlier than other uprights. Very uniform with good heat tolerance. 

EnduraScape – The first verbena that’s hardy through the hottest days of summer but can take the cold down to the low teens, and still rebloom, bringing lasting colour to landscapes all season long.

Firehouse – This medium-vigour verbena has a beautiful mounded habit perfect for hanging baskets and landscapes. They have superior powdery mildew tolerance and prolonged summer flowering.

Lanai – A semi-trailing verbena characterized by disease resistance, bold patterns, bright colours, and contrasting eyes. It spreads up to 2 feet and has a long bloom season. Compact versions with mounded habits are also available. 

Obsession – With colours that will mesmerize, Obsession is perfect for packs and small pots with strong branching and high uniformity that make production a breeze. 

Quartz – An all-season verbena that makes a great choice for spring and fall temperatures but also tolerates heat and humidity. 

Cadet Upright Purple flowers earlier than most other verbenas and offers good heat tolerance.

In the annuals category, 2022 has been deemed the Year of the Verbena thanks to the many colours and types available and little extra care needed to keep plants blooming. Pictured: Lanai Candycane.

EnduraScape withstands a wide range of temperatures.

Superbena: These verbena hybrids were developed to be more robust, more mildew resistant, and more resilient than older varieties. They also produce larger flowers in many colours, including bicoloured striped patterns.

Tapien: A trailing verbena characterized by a multi-branching growth habit, spreading up to 3 feet to create a dense low-growing carpet of blooms. Highly mildew-resistant and thrives under a wide range of weather conditions.

Temari – Temari trailing is a range of broad-leaved verbena, which are centrally branched, produce vigorous branches which quickly form mounds of colour. 

Vanessa – Vanessa has a controlled, well-branched habit that was selected for mildew tolerance. It holds its colour into the heat of summer. 

‘Year of’ program
By November 1 of this year, photos of these varieties will be available on the NGB website. NGB also provides multiple marketing materials that can be downloaded at no charge from the NGB website. If you need the logo prior to November 1, simply contact NGB at info@ngb.org. 

Growers and garden centres are encouraged to take advantage of the publicity generated by this program by using the marketing collateral NGB can provide for your 2022 catalogues, websites, advertisements, presentations, trade show booths, event exhibits and other materials. 

 Need another reason to use this program? NGB does extensive work on creating marketing content, such as social media graphics, which makes it much easier for you to post information about the “Year of” plants on your own social media platforms. Our work on this helps save you time and money, especially during the busy spring season!

Consumer publicity for the 2022 Year of crops will begin in January 2022. 

Stay tuned to this space for the next 2022 ‘Year of’ crop. 

Diane Blazek is executive director of All-America Selections and National Garden Bureau. NGB is a North American non-profit organization and marketing arm of the gardening industry. It exists to educate, inspire, and motivate the use of plants in homes, gardens, and workplaces. NGB members come from around the world and are experts in the field of horticulture. Find out more at ngb.org.