Species Name:  Verbena stricta

Common Name: Hoary Vervain

Zone: 3 to 8

Light: Full Sun

Soil Moisture: Dry to Medium

Soil Types: Sand, Loam

Fertility: Poor to Moderate

pH: 5.6 to 7.5

Bloom Time: July, August

Habit: A tough drought tolerant plant that thrives in dry to medium meadows, roadsides and disturbed areas. Blue to purple flowers are an important nectar source for pollinators.  Hoary Vervain is short lived perennial but readily reseeds itself into any open or disturbed soils.  Hoary vervain is an early successional species and will be out competed and displaced by longer lived prairie species but the seed will remain viable in the soil waiting for some type of soil disturbance such as fire or grazing to trigger germination. Usually a small component of dry meadows and grassland.  Haory vervain can be introduced during the early stages of meadow establishment or seeded into very poor droughty soils such as extremely sandy or gravelly soils where its drought tolerance give it a competetive advantage.  Easily established from seed on bare soil, this is the preferred way to establish it. Seeds are readily eaten by birds and small mammals. The plant is very unpalatable to deer.