Blue vervain or Verbena hastata

Blue vervain has been blooming in the OPSEU garden for the past month and just keeps on giving. It grows only to a couple feet tall, making it useful in the garden but it will form colonies by slow growing rhizomes and will seed about so don't try to force it into a formal design.

The ideal location for blue vervain is slightly moist soil in full sun but we are having good luck even on the sandy soils around OPSEU. It is very adaptable and despite sandy conditions it has not showed any signs of drying up.

Though Verbena should not be taken in excess as it is mildly toxic, it has been used medicinally in teas as a mild sedative to calm nervousness or insomnia as well as for colds and fevers where it helps induce sweating.