Garden speedwell Seeds - Veronica longifolia

Veronica longifolia, also known as garden speedwell or longleaf speedwell, is a very resistant perennial plant that blooms profusely in the summer and that is well adapted to wet, clay soils. In the summer, its long, dense looking spikes, thickly set with tiny, bright blue flowers, rise above a lush foliage, animated with the incessant flight of butterflies. In flower beds or at the edge of water features, it forms a huge mass of blooms which also attracts the eye with its beautiful autumn foliage. Very hardy, it can be grown without difficulty in any good quality garden soil, in deep, moist soil, in the sun or in partial shade. Its flowers are also very pretty in bouquets.

Veronica longifolia is a herbaceous plant of the family Plantagenaceae which is found in Northern and Central Europe and in Asia. Forming mounds that are quite large that bear erect stems, it sometimes grows to over 1 m in the wild and hybridizes easily with Veronica spicata. It is a plant for wet, clay, lime soils.

Longleaf speedwell's growth emerges from the ground in spring, forming an upright clump of leafy stems, averaging 90 cm in height and 50 cm in width. Its leaves may be opposite, but are often verticillate (inserted in whorls at regular intervals) in groups of three or four. Fairly narrow and lanceolate, 6 to 12 cm long and equipped with a short stalk, the leaf blade is deeply toothed and pure green in colour. It blooms in June-July. The inflorescences are very dense, upright racemes (clusters) that look like long, narrow spikes, densely set with very small flowers. They are tubular, intense blue and have four petals and two lighter coloured, protruding stamens. The blooms are melliferous and nectar-rich and give way to fruits in the form of spineless, heart-shaped capsules. The seeds self-seed spontaneously in the garden in wet soil.

Very easy to grow in ordinary, moist soil, this speedwell blends well with a variety of plants, especially plants for wet banks and produces beautiful summer displays in large flowerbeds and on the banks of a pond. Plant it with purple loosestrife, boneset, meadow-rues, meadowsweet (Filipendula) and Euphorbia palustris, for example. For a wilder looking style of garden, this elegant perennial forms a very successful association at the back of beds, with coneflowers and medium sized-grasses: pennisetum, compact miscanthus... Its flowers make for beautiful bouquets, along with white, pink or red roses, hydrangeas, buttercups, asters.