Hi Sheila, I grew verbena from seed this year...a packet called florists mix. It has done well for me although I was disappointed when it bloomed because most of the plants were pastels instead of brilliant dark colors. I usually start seeds in plastic trays with lids that salads, roast chickens and deli items come in. Then I transfer them to small plastic dixie cups with a hole in the bottom. I found that the paper dixie cups get mildewed too easily. Good luck...it sprouted easily and with no special pampering. I also grew the trailing verbena with smaller flowers this year from seed and it did well also...Kathy ~^~O

Thank you for taking the time to answer my Verbena question. I am going to save some of my seeds and give it a try. Sheila

I've linked a website that shows what Verbena seeds look like. Some varieties have light brown & some have black seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thank you Ponder, now I know what I am looking for - Sheila

I started Verbena seeds early this spring indoors and they did great. They are very lush plants and are the dark purple and dark reds. I'll do them again next year.

Shelia, I winter sowed my verbena and they sprouted easily and were very beautiful, just yesterday I clipped the dried seed heads into a baggie and was able to locate the seeds by just poking thru it wasn't hard once you know what the look like.
Good luck on your seed saving adventure :-) Wendey

Thank you so much for posting this! I know this is an old post but it has really helped me. I had a beautiful hanging basket this past summer full of blue wave petunias, yellow million bells and a gorgeous trailing red verbena. I clipped the dried flower heads in fall and saved them but for the life of me could not figure out what the seed was! By the picture on the link here, it looks like I have quite a few seeds to grow! Yayyy!

Gardenweb saves the day again! Thanks soooooo much! :)
aunt_lou

Hi Aunt lou,

I too made a hanging basket last summer with trailing red verbena. I took cuttings from it and am overwintering the cuttings under lights. I have not tried to take seeds.
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WOW! Beautiful pictures. You may have convinced me to do a few more flowers along with my veggies.

Same happened here. I have tons of verbenas in window boxes and never was able to figure out where the seeds were. After seeing the picture I just clipped a few dried flower heads and there they were! Now I have like hundreds of seeds and nothing to do with them.. LOL! At least now I know what they look like :D
Thanks!

Oh! Betty! Gorgeous baskets! Your flowers are so beautiful! I only hope that I can get my red verbena seeds to germinate now. I am debating on whether to start them inside or to winter sow them. Is that a mandevilla vine in one picture? I wonder if you grew that yourself too. I think they are so lovely and have always wanted to try growing one. Thanks for the pictures!

aunt_lou

Hi aunt lou,

I made that hanging basket and bought 3 small verbenas and filled in with Dipladenia (not Mandevilla but in the same family) and also Million Bells. The last two pictures are cuttings of Verbena that I overwintered under lights. The verbenas did so well under lights that I am sure I will try it for next year.

Dipladenia in Hanging baskets are my favorite--because they bloom non-stop for me up until frost and they are not messy.

These are vegatative verbena and best propagated from cuttings to ensure a clone of what you have. The hard part is wintering over until spring. Once rooted and growing the use of grow lights will help the survival of the verbena. If you are able to keep them growing you can continue to cut them back to keep them a managable size and or keep propagating. Using what ever seed you may be able to harvest may produce unstable and weak plants.

Holy Cow Betty! They are Beautiful! I see you had petunia's in with the verbena. BEAUTIFUL! Can I ask what fertilizer you used and how often? Thank You

Hi Jcnetti,

I used Miracle Gro Potting soil when I made the Verbena Hanging basket. This year I will use Tapla's formula, as I tried it for the first time last year with a container of Dragon Wing Begonias and was very impressed. I used Algoflash fertilizer, which I purchased for $10 from Park's Seeds or Burpee Seeds. I probably used it once every other week. Never fertilize when the plant is dry. Water well the night before and then fertilize the next morning. There was also Osmocote in the Miracle Gro potting soil. This year, I plan to use Osmocote Plus in the Tapla container formula. I found it at a local nursery and it contains the trace minerals also.

I overwintered my Verbena and then took cuttings from it all winter, growing them under high intensity lights. They bloomed quite well all winter and the little 3 inch cuttings have also bloomed well.

I also planted Million Bells in that container and they also did well. I tried to over-winter cuttings of the Million Bells and they did well for awhile but then declined. I probably will not try that again.

Bettyfb......beautiful hanging basket!....ive grown verbena from seeds......last year i just sprinkled some seeds(lavender ones) into a container on my patio...took a little bit to germinate but came up and were srong plants...and added a few other plants to the pot.....

carol

Thanks Carol,

That variety of Verbena is propagated by cuttings. I overwintered one Verbena and have taken cuttings this winter. I may also try some varieties from seed. Sounds like fun.