Michigan Veronica

Veronica, also called speedwell, is the graceful spike-maker of the summer border. Slender, tapering wands are densely set with small star-shaped florets that open from the bottom up, in cool blues, violets, soft pinks, and clean white. The taller Culver’s root types stretch those spikes even higher and add an airy, architectural note. Whatever the height, veronica gives a mixed bouquet a sense of movement and a hit of true blue that few other summer flowers can match.

The genus Veronica is a large one, with both border perennials and taller native relatives, and our growers raise garden and cut-flower strains rather than gathering them wild. They are well matched to Michigan: veronica is a tough, cold-hardy perennial that shrugs off our winters and returns a little fuller each year, flowering through the warm months from early summer well into fall.

For our farmers veronica is a reliable, hard-working stem. It mixes into almost any palette, holds up well in the vase, and its slender spikes are just as useful softening the edge of an arrangement as they are standing tall in the center.