A plant that I suspect for many of you needs little introduction, Verbena bonariensis, crammed into the show gardens at Chelsea when it first came on the scene but today is a staple part of the late summer repertoire. The purple flowers are often peppered with butterflies & bees. Not the hardiest of plants and the mother plant reliably dies off with us each winter but the seed that is scattered with each cycle means that we have a regular supply of seedlings every spring. They take a while to get going but once they pick up speed in the space of 10 weeks you can go from seedling to a fully flowering mature plant. In milder areas you can overwinter them no problem, whatever the scenario this is a such a heavenly plant.