Lavender Lightsaber carries soft lavender flower spikes over the top half of a tall, columnar plant. It is made for adding height to the middle of a border or to narrow beds and small gardens.
It blooms from early summer through midsummer, and the spiky flowers contrast nicely with round daisy-type blooms. Bees are frequent visitors, and deer tend to leave it alone.
What it looks like
Slender, tapering flower spikes 6 to 10 inches long densely packed with tiny soft lavender florets, covering the top half of the plant. Leaves are lance-shaped, finely toothed and green, 2 to 4 inches long, in pairs along stiff, upright stems. The plant is a columnar, upright clump 28 to 30 inches tall and 18 to 20 inches wide. At peak it looks like a narrow green pillar crowned with soft lavender spires.
Growing it with lavender
Speedwell likes full sun like lavender but appreciates a little more moisture, so set it at the edge of a lavender bed where it gets occasional water; its slender spikes echo lavender's form and extend the season of spiky color.
Care
Plant in full sun to part shade in average, well-drained soil that does not stay dry for long. Hardy in zones 4-8; cut spent spikes back to the next set of side buds to keep new flowers coming, and divide crowded clumps every few years in spring.
At a glance
-
Botanical name: Veronica
-
Flower color: Soft lavender
-
Foliage: Green
-
Growth habit: Columnar, upright clump
-
Mature size: 28–30 in tall × 18–20 in wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
-
Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
-
Bloom start: Mid-June
-
Peak bloom: Mid-July
-
Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
-
Deer resistance: Resistant
-
Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.