Obedient Plant ( Physostegia virginiana )
Need a bit of ‘pop’ in your shade garden? Hmm how about one that is also a ground cover AND is a favorite of hummingbirds?
Look to Physotegia virginiana to do the job!
From July into Autumn, ‘light torches’ of pink rise 2-4’ above clumping mounds of green for waves of pink flowers literally buzzing with native bees & hummingbirds!
Pollinators like hummingbirds and bumblebees can’t resist these pretty nectar filled blooms!
Seriously – we have a patch by deck steps and it’s like walking through a pollinator highway!
Quick Plant Deets:
Native Perennial
Grows up to 3-4’ tall 2’ wide
Moist to Average Water Needs
Grows in full sun to shade
Drought tolerant once established
Deer & Rabbit Resistant
Blooms late Summer into Autumn
See important deets about Obedient Plant below and in this blog post!
Obedient Plant gets a bad rap for being aggressive but really it’s just Mother Nature trying to feed & care for as many pollinators as she can!
Growing in clumps with shallow roots, Obedient Plant is easy to keep in check in small gardens.
In very small gardens, consider growing Obedient Plant in containers.
Simply pull ‘volunteers’ to transplant elsewhere in the garden, share with friends or donate to a local plant sale!
Give it a bit of competition from other native plants like Monardas, Penstemons, Rudbeckias and native grasses/sedges to keep it in check. This is Nature’s way of shading out it’s low growing foliage and crowding out the roots of Obedient Plant.
Cut the faded blooms! Doing so not only reduces seed dispersal but also encourages production of more flowers for more nectar for pollinators throughout the season.
Want more tips about Obedient Plant? Check out this blog post
