The
Victorian Verbena hybrida had been obtained
by crossing the V. melindres, V. Tweediana, V. incisa
and well various other species of South African origin.
During to its varied origins, the Victorian garden verbena
produced flowers of every colour save yellow, although
the range was chiefly in the red-purple hues. The parent
species had only been in England since c. 1836, so the
flower was still something of a novelty by the late
Victorian age.
The
British isles had a native species, the V. officinalis,
but this had fallen into great disfavour as a garden
flower, mainly, Hibberd suggests, because of a 'plague'
that invariably struck the plant. Hibberd also theorised
that this plague was caused by over cultivation by market
gardeners rather than any inherent fault of the plant.
The
verbena required a rich loamy and somewhat moist soil,
and 'a free and pure air' (thus, not the smoggy, polluted
air of the British cities). The roots must never be
allowed to dry out, and the plant needed to be overwintered
in a cool, airy glasshouse
with only enough heat to keep out the frost.
New
plants could be propagated from cuttings taken from
the tender-growing tops in the month of May. If carefully
managed, these cutting grew on strongly, and could often
be planted out from the end of May.
The
verbena was also well suited to frame
growing.
