In short
- Forms compact clumps 20-60 cm tall and blooms from June to August.
- Needs full sun and free-draining soil; copes well on poor, dry substrates.
- Frost-hardy to USDA zone 3a — in Poland it overwinters without cover, but does not tolerate winter moisture.
- Cutting off spent spikes in July stimulates a second, weaker flush of bloom in August.
- Grows in a strictly tight clump, without runners — it does not encroach on neighbours and needs no containment.
Botanical data
- Family
- Plantaginaceae (Plantaginaceae)
- Height
- 0.2–0.6 m
- Width
- 0.3–0.5 m
- Habit
- Clump-forming
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sandy, Loamy, Chalky
- pH reaction
- pH 6–7.5
- Moisture
- Dry, Moderate
- Bloom
- June–August
- Hardiness
- USDA 3a–8a
- Propagation
- By division, From cuttings, From seed
Characteristics
A compact, clump-forming perennial with a short rootstock that becomes woody at the base, from which a tuft of upright, usually unbranched stems arises each year. The clump reaches 20-60 cm in height and 30-50 cm in width; the flowering stems die back in autumn, while the basal leaves partly persist through mild winters. The leaves are opposite, sessile or short-stalked, oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 2-8 cm long, with a crenate-serrate margin and a matt, most often shortly hairy blade. The inflorescence is a dense, narrow, terminal raceme resembling a spike, 5-15 cm long, made up of several dozen small flowers that open in succession from bottom to top — so a single spike stays ornamental for several weeks. The flower measures 4-6 mm, has a fused corolla of four unequal lobes (the lower one distinctly narrower) and only two stamens, projecting far beyond the corolla; it is these that give the spike its characteristic 'fuzzy' look. In the species the flowers are blue-violet, while cultivated varieties broaden the palette to include pink, carmine and white. The fruit is a small, flattened capsule with numerous, very tiny seeds. Growth is moderate, and the habit strictly clump-forming — the plant does not spread by runners. It requires full sun; in partial shade it flowers more weakly and the stems flop more readily. The soil should be free-draining and rather poor, with a neutral to slightly alkaline reaction (pH 6.0-7.5). It tolerates drought very well and waterlogging — especially in winter — very badly; its frost hardiness reaches zone 3a, so under Polish conditions it overwinters without cover. It differs from long-leaf speedwell (Veronica longifolia) in its lower stature, shorter and broader leaves and earlier flowering, and from the germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) common in grasslands — by its dense, terminal spikes instead of loose racemes arising from the leaf axils.
Popular cultivars
- ‘Rotfuchs’
- Also sold under the trade name Red Fox. Dense, carmine-pink spikes above a 30-40 cm clump; one of the most frequently sold varieties of the species.
- ‘Blaufuchs’
- The counterpart of Rotfuchs in a violet-blue colour, sold commercially as Blue Fox. Similar vigour, 30-40 cm; combines well with yellow-flowering perennials.
- ‘Heidekind’
- A low variety, 25-30 cm, with intensely carmine-pink spikes and grey-green, distinctly hairy foliage. Thanks to its compact habit it is suited to border edges and rock gardens.
- ‘Glory’
- Sold under the trade name Royal Candles. Dark blue-violet, dense spikes on stiff stems 30-45 cm tall, with a long flowering period and little tendency to flop.
- ‘Silbersee’
- Belongs to the silver-leaved subspecies incana. Leaves densely covered with white felt, flowers pale blue, clump about 25-30 cm; grown mainly for its foliage, exceptionally sensitive to winter moisture.
Growing and care
Watering
Water only young plantings and during prolonged drought. Established plants cope on their own; more dangerous than drought is winter standing water, which causes rot of the root collar.
Fertilizing
A thin layer of compost once a season is entirely sufficient. An excess of nitrogen produces lush, soft stems that flop and overwinter less well.
Planting
A sunny site, free-draining and rather poor soil. On heavy substrate, mix the top layer with gravel or grit, or plant on a slightly raised bed.
Pruning
Cut spent spikes off at the base — the plant then puts out further flowering stems and blooms again in August, and in favourable weather also in early September. Cut stems left over winter down to the ground in early spring, before growth resumes.
Companion plants
Good companions
Te same wymagania — pełne słońce, przepuszczalna i raczej uboga gleba; obie byliny kwitną kłosami w tym samym czasie i po wycięciu przekwitłych pędów powtarzają kwitnienie.
Sucholubny sąsiad o zupełnie innej fakturze: mięsiste liście i płaskie, talerzowate kwiatostany równoważą pionowe kłosy, a kwitnieniem od sierpnia do października przedłuża sezon ozdobności rabaty.
Niska, szarobłękitna trawa o identycznych wymaganiach glebowych i wodnych; jej kępy rozdzielają grupy przetacznika i utrzymują rabatę ozdobną także zimą.
Bad companions
Floks wymaga żyznej, stale wilgotnej gleby i regularnego podlewania — w takich warunkach przetacznik wylega, słabiej kwitnie i gnije w szyjce korzeniowej.
Mięta rozrasta się rozłogami i potrzebuje wilgoci; w kilka sezonów przerasta zwartą, niską kępę przetacznika i wypiera ją ze stanowiska.
The evidence level indicates whether the relationship is backed by research, observation, or gardening tradition.
Diseases and pests
A white, powdery coating on leaves, shoots and buds. The leaves turn yellow, become deformed and drop prematurely. The coating develops on both sides of the leaf blade, is often clearly visible from above, and can easily be rubbed off with a finger — it is the superficial mycelium of an ectoparasite that draws nutrients from the epidermal cells by means of feeding structures (haustoria). At first single, round, white spots appear, which in time merge and cover the entire leaf surface and the young growth. Young leaves and the current season's shoots are the most susceptible; heavy infection causes them to pucker, stiffen and stop growing, and on buds it leads to deformation or death of the flowers. On the fruit of some species (gooseberry, apple, cucurbits) the coating leaves russeting or a corky skin. Towards the end of the season, small, dark fruiting bodies (chasmothecia, formerly called cleistothecia) — the pathogen's overwintering structures — appear within the coating. The disease affects many plants, including roses, oak, privet, lilac, cucurbits, cereals, grapevine, apple, gooseberry, phlox and coneflowers, with each of these hosts being infected by a specialised species of fungus.
Root rot (Phytophthora root rot)The disease develops in overly wet, poorly aerated substrate and attacks the roots and the base of the stem. The roots turn brown, rot and lose their bark, which slips off easily, and a dark, watery rot appears at the stem base. The above-ground part wilts, yellows and dies back despite moist soil – a characteristic symptom, because the damaged roots no longer take up water. Especially at risk are houseplants, succulents and cacti (from overwatering), and in the ground conifers, rhododendrons, ericaceous plants and strawberries on waterlogged sites. The process begins inconspicuously at the root hairs and root tips, which darken and disappear, after which the rot advances towards the framework roots and the root collar. Healthy, pale, active roots waste away — what remains is a dark, rusty-brown or blackish, watery mass, and the outer layer of the root bark slips off like a glove, exposing the discoloured central cylinder. In trees and shrubs, infection of the collar and the base of the trunk (stem-base rot) shows as a dark, often streaking patch, sometimes with oozing, and the bark there is moist and sunken; in conifers and rhododendrons, browning and dieback are seen from the bottom or from the centre of the crown while the soil is still moist. Characteristic is the nested (patchy) occurrence of symptoms in the bed — where water and the pathogen accumulate locally. It is worth distinguishing the two causal oomycete genera: Pythium mainly attacks seedlings and fine roots, causing damping-off and root rot in cool, wet substrate, whereas Phytophthora also attacks older, woody plants, framework roots and the collar, more strongly in warmer, water-saturated soil. Key for diagnosis is the contradiction of the symptoms: the plant wilts and looks 'dry', although the substrate is wet — this results from the destruction of the roots, not from a shortage of water.
Slugs and snailsSlugs and shelled snails that feed at night and after rain. Symptoms: irregular holes in the leaves and young seedlings eaten off completely, silvery slime trails on leaves and soil. The greatest damage occurs in damp, shaded spots — particularly on lettuce, strawberries and hostas. The most damaging in gardens are the slugs (which lack an external shell): the Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris, formerly described as A. lusitanicus) and the grey field slug (Deroceras reticulatum). The leopard slug (Limax maximus) can be morphologically similar to them, but it feeds mainly on decaying organic matter and fungi and may even prey on other slugs, so it is of little importance as a pest of living plants. Shelled forms — grove snails (Cepaea) or the protected Roman snail (Helix pomatia) — usually cause less damage. The body is soft, elongated and permanently covered in slime; on the head there are two pairs of retractable tentacles — the longer upper pair bears the eyes, the shorter lower pair serves a tactile and olfactory function. Slugs and snails are hermaphrodites: they lay spherical, transparent or pearly eggs in clusters, hidden in damp soil, under stones and in leaf litter. A single Spanish slug can lay several hundred eggs; both eggs and young slugs overwinter, and feeding lasts from spring to late autumn, intensifying on warm, damp nights. The damage has smooth edges and often appears in the middle of the leaf blade, not only from the margin; seedlings and transplants are sometimes eaten down to bare soil, and on strawberries and ripening vegetables the slugs gnaw hollows into the fruit. The decisive diagnostic sign is the dried, silvery glistening slime trail — no insect leaves one.
AphidsSmall (1–3 mm) soft-bodied insects, green, black or pink, feeding in clusters on young shoots and the underside of leaves. They excrete sticky honeydew. The diagnostic feature that distinguishes aphids from other small sucking insects is the pair of siphunculi (tubular projections) at the rear of the abdomen together with a tail-like cauda; a single colony usually holds wingless forms (parthenogenetic females) alongside winged migrants that fly onto new plants in summer. In summer aphids reproduce parthenogenetically and viviparously over many generations, so the population builds up explosively; in autumn many species produce a sexual generation that lays overwintering eggs on the host, and host-alternating species move between a winter host (often a tree or shrub) and a summer host (a herbaceous plant). Feeding symptoms include curling, crinkling and distortion of young leaves, stunted growth, yellowing, and the shedding of buds and fruitlets. Abundant honeydew coats the leaves, and the sooty mould fungus that develops on it forms a black film which limits photosynthesis; the honeydew is fed on by ants, which in return defend the colony against predators. Aphids are also important vectors of plant viruses (mosaics among them), transmitting them from plant to plant even during a brief probing puncture.
Toxicity
| For whom | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | None | The species does not appear in lists of poisonous plants; it is not, however, an edible or medicinal plant. |
| Dogs | None | — |
| Cats | None | — |
History and origin
The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his work 'Species Plantarum' of 1753. Its natural range covers a large part of Europe as well as northern and central Asia, reaching Siberia. In Poland spiked speedwell is a native plant — it grows in xerothermic and sandy grasslands, on dry, sunny slopes, the margins of pine woods and in open scrub, on free-draining substrate that warms up quickly. This habitat pedigree explains the garden requirements better than any cultivation manual: a plant of dry grassland needs neither fertile soil nor regular watering — it needs light and drainage. In western Europe the species' situation looks quite different: in Great Britain it is a rarity and grows only at a few sites — as the typical subspecies in the dry grasslands of the Breckland region in eastern England, and as subspecies hybrida on limestone rocks and grasslands of western England and Wales. In cultivation spiked speedwell functions as a border and rock-garden perennial, and most of the cultivars available today come from German perennial nurseries, as their names show — Rotfuchs, Blaufuchs or Heidekind. The species' popularity clearly rose along with the fashion for gravel gardens and naturalistic drought-tolerant plantings, which prize plants with a clear, vertical inflorescence form and low water demand.
Uses
Spiked speedwell is planted in the front and middle of a sunny border, along paths, in gravel gardens, on dry banks and in larger rock gardens. It looks best in groups of 5-7 plants spaced 30-40 cm apart — a single clump is lost in a border, whereas a repeated rhythm of vertical spikes is the species' main asset. Its natural partners are plants with the same requirements: woolly sage, Faassen's catmint, common yarrow, stonecrops, lamb's ear and low ornamental grasses such as blue fescue and feather grass. Combining the vertical spike with the flat, plate-like inflorescences of yarrow and the rounded tufts of grasses gives a contrast of form that reads clearly even after flowering. The soil need not be enriched. On fertile, moist ground the plants grow more lushly but flop and die out sooner, so fertilising is limited to a spring dose of compost. On heavy soils it is worth mixing the top layer with grit or planting the plant on a slightly raised bed — a simpler and more lasting correction than fighting winter waterlogging after the fact. After the first flush of spikes fades, usually in July, they are cut off at the base: the plant then puts out further, lower flowering stems and blooms again in August, and in favourable weather also in early September. Stems left over winter give structure to a frosted border and shelter for insects, so tidy-up pruning is better moved to late winter. The clump is divided every 3-4 years in spring, when its centre starts to go bare and flowering weakens. The spikes are suitable as cut flowers — they are cut when the lower part of the inflorescence has opened. In containers only the low varieties succeed, and only with good drainage: the medium should be mineral, and the pot large enough that it does not freeze right through in winter or collect water. In plantings for pollinators the spikes are readily visited by bees, bumblebees and butterflies throughout the flowering period.
Trivia
- A speedwell flower has only two stamens — a diagnostic feature of the whole genus Veronica, whereas in most plantain-family members, such as foxglove or snapdragon, there are four stamens. They project far beyond the corolla, and it is thanks to them that the entire spike looks fuzzy.
- Some botanists split off the speedwells with dense, terminal spikes into a separate genus, Pseudolysimachion — under this treatment the species is called Pseudolysimachion spicatum. Reference databases, including Plants of the World Online, nonetheless adopt the broadly defined genus Veronica.
- The subspecies Veronica spicata subsp. incana has leaves densely covered with a silvery felt. From it derive the varieties grown more for their foliage than their flowers, led by Silbersee.
Frequently asked questions
Why does spiked speedwell flop and sprawl sideways?
The most common causes are soil that is too rich, an excess of nitrogen in fertilising, or too little light. The plant comes from dry grasslands, and on poor, free-draining ground in full sun it builds stiff stems that stand on their own. Cutting off spent spikes also helps — the regrowing stems are lower and stronger.
Will spiked speedwell flower a second time?
Yes. If, after the first flush of bloom, usually in July, you cut the spent spikes off at the base, the plant puts out further flowering stems and blooms again in August, and in favourable weather also in early September. The second flush is lower and less abundant than the first.
The plant overwintered badly despite a mild winter — why?
Spiked speedwell is very frost-hardy (to USDA zone 3a), so the cause is almost never frost, only water. Waterlogging on heavy soil and wet mulch against the base of the clump cause rot of the root collar. The solution is drainage: grit mixed into the substrate, a raised bed, and mulching with grit instead of bark or compost.
How often should the clump be divided?
Every 3-4 years, in spring. The signal is a clump going bare in the centre and weaker flowering. Division is also the simplest way to propagate — alongside stem cuttings from young growth and sowing seed.
How does spiked speedwell differ from long-leaf speedwell?
The spiked one is lower (20-60 cm against up to 120 cm in the long-leaf), has shorter and broader, crenate-serrate leaves and flowers earlier — from June, whereas the long-leaf usually starts in July. In the garden the spiked one works in the front of a border and in rock gardens, the long-leaf — in the middle ground.
Sources
- Plants of the World Online (POWO) — Veronica spicata L.Database (GBIF, POWO…)
- RHS — Veronica spicataInstitution / botanical garden
- Missouri Botanical Garden — Plant Finder: Veronica spicataInstitution / botanical garden
- Klucz do oznaczania roślin naczyniowych Polski niżowejBook
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