Verbena.

Bonariensis?

Thank you both kindly. I reckon I'll be able to determine the species next year. Much obliged.

Verbena bonariensis is the species. No need to wait until next year.

an enthusiastic reseeder here--do the seeds live over in a snowy climate?

So enthusiastic a reseeder in my climate it is now considered a borderline invasive species!!

That plant seems more like Verbena rigida to me, because of those long floral tubes and flowers that are rose-colored. Verbena bonariensis is a much taller plant, but has shorter floral tubes that are darker than the petals. The Alabama Plants site has a good description and photos of both species. Here are links to the two pages.

Verbena rigida

Verbena bonariensis

I still think it's V bonariensis. The sparseness of the flower head looks right. The height would be useful to know other than just 'a long flower stalk.'

Currently at the monitoring level here.

http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weeds/tall-verbena

Both
species have clasping leaves. Verbena
rigida has corolla tubes greater than 10 mm long, and a mature calyx about 4.5
mm long. Verbena bonariensis has corolla
tubes 4-6 mm long, and a mature calyx about 2.5 mm long. I’ve included a couple of photos for
reference. The first is of V. rigida,
and the second is of V. bonariensis. If
you look at the OP’s first photo, the floral tubes appear to be about the same
length as their thumbnail is high. For
most of us, that’s about 11-13 mm if the nail is trimmed fairly short. The floral tubes would have to be roughly
half of the thumbnail’s length for them to be typical of bonariensis. And I should probably mention that the floral
tubes extend to the bottom of the calyx, so the OP’s plant has floral tubes
that easily exceed the 10 mm minimum expected for rigida.

Verbena rigida

Verbena bonariensis

Since the photo is very out of focus and it is not possible to say how far below the flower head the thumb is I don't think one can draw any conclusions about the size of the floral parts. Better pictures would help a lot. And we need to know the height. I'm still saying V. bonariensis until more information is forthcoming.

Thank you, everyone. I'll try to get a better look and a better photo in the next few days. Greatly appreciate the help.

You wanted to know if the seeds will come back in a snowy climate.Don't worry,they will come back with a vengeance. I'm in z6a and I bought a few V. bonariensis plants 20 years ago and haven't been with out them since.They can take over if you don't control them. I tried growing a couple V. rigida years ago,but they didn't survive the winter or have any seedlings.At this point I can't say which of the two it is without side photos showing depth of bloom.

My vote is V.B I grow it here for the butterflies, bees and hummers.

It seeds happily all over I now grow it in very large tubs. I walk around the flower beds and pick out the seedlings which take very easily even if roughly handled and tiny. I make pots of it as gifts for the brown thumb neighbors.

Monarchs love it too. It also makes a great back ground plant in the border. flowers last a long time, dead head if you want more flowers. I do very little except water because it is in tubs, It also looks good in tubs with big leaf coreopsis.

I had a huge preying mantis lived in the big tub by the road for 6 weeks. I don't prune or shape because I need tall leggy things to fill in between perennials.

It will definitely seed and a few plants will make it for a 2nd year. Long Island and Boston have similar weather. Funny thing I tried for 3 years with nursery grown gallon size, nothing.. that last year I paid for them , I pulled the plants in disgust and threw the whole thing on the ground in the back of the border in the fall, and have had them ever since.

Did I mention it attracts Monarchs? Sorry I am so long winded!

Thank you, everyone. It looks like I don't have any more flowers but only seedheads. And I can't seem to get a well-focused photo of even them. I may have to wait until next year and see what comes up. Appreciate all the help and thoughts.