Obedient Plant – Physostegia virginiana

Botanical Name: Physostegia virginiana

Category: Perennial

Divisible: Yes

Common Name: Obedient Plant, False Dragonhead

Evergreen: No

Propagation: Division,  seed

Family: Lamiaceae

Invasive: can be

Size:12-36″ tall x 12-18″ wide

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana), also known as false dragonhead brings a profusion of flower spikes to the mid-summer garden. These tall bloomers bring a vertical element to your garden and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Varieties include white, pink and purple shades. Shown above is “Vivid” – a beautiful purple hue.

Obedient plant thrives in full sun to part shade and is drought tolerant. Rich, moist soil can cause it to be aggressive.

Once established obedient plant will naturalize and spread underground. Shoots are easily transplanted in the spring to establish Obedient Plant in new areas of your garden.

Easy to grow with no pest problems Obedient Plant is a sturdy and reliable bloomer from mid-summer through fall. And it is beautiful as a cut flower.

My Experience:

I love to see where Obedient plant will pop up each spring. They do seem to end up in unlikely places.

Obedient plant is easy to divide. This should be done in the spring.

Obedient plants do spread! If you want to have control growing in pots is a great way to do this. Choose a large pot with good drainage, preferably 18 inches, to accommodate fast growth. Use normal potting soil.

Protect or take in pots during the winter cold. 

 

Growing Obedient Plant from Seed

Harvesting Seed:

After the flowers fade, pods will form. Watch carefully for them to open and soon as they do, cut the stems. Put stems head down into a paper lunch bag and shake the seed out.

Seeds should be pre-treated with 60 days of cold moist stratification for spring/winter sowing.

Direct Sowing:

  • Direct sow seed in late fall or pre-treated seeds in early spring.
  • Prepare planting area by removing weeds and turning soil.
  • Plant several seeds for each plant 18-24″ apart and just below the surface of the soil.
  • Water lightly and keep soil moist until germination – about  1-2 weeks.

Indoor Start

  • Start seeds about two months before spring planting date.
  • Prepare pots of seed starting medium. Add seeds and very lightly cover with soil,. Germination occurs in 7-14 days.
  • When seedlings are a couple of inches tall transplant into garden or larger pots.

Buy Obedient Plant “Vivid” live plants from my Etsy shop

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Practical advice from a home gardener

I am Deborah Valiquet – artist and obsessive gardener. Here you will find my advice for creating a garden oasis in the high desert. I’ll share my experiences – successes and failures over the last 10+ years. 

Even if your garden isn’t in the high desert you will find lots of valuable information here. Let’s dig in!

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