Veronica longifolia Marietta

Veronica longifolia 'Marietta', a spectacular, floriferous, compact and upright variety of long-leaved Veronica flooding flowerbeds with long spikes of small blue flowers with prominent silver stamens in summer. It is adorned with dense, dark ash-green foliage. A plant for wet areas which is ideal by water features, even in clayey and heavy soil, in full sun or partial shade.

Veronica longifolia is a herbaceous plant in the plantain family, found in northern and central Europe as well as Asia. It is fairly tall, forming clumps of erect stems over 1 m (3ft) tall in the wild. The 'Marietta' variety is a compact, floriferous form that will reach 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24in) high and 40 cm (16in) wide. Its leaves can be opposite, but are often whorled in groups of three or four. They are fairly narrow and lanceolate, with short petioles, deeply toothed, dark green glazed with silver. Flowering takes place in June-July with very dense racemes (clusters), resembling long narrow spikes, tightly packed with tiny flowers. These are tubular, intense and deep ultramarine blue and made up of four petals and two surprisingly clear prominent stamens. The nectar-rich flowers are followed by spineless, heart-shaped fruit capsules.

This perfectly hardy Veronica is very easy to grow and blends well with a multitude of plants to create magnificent summer compositions, on the banks of a pond.

Plant it alongside eupatoriums, pygamons, Lythrum salicaria, Filipendula rubra 'Venusta', and Euphorbia palustris, for example. In a wilder style, at the back of a flowerbed, this elegant perennial forms a very successful combination with tall grasses: Miscanthus, Panicum, Stipa... It can look elegant planted with old-fashioned perpetual roses, such as Felicia or Cornelia, for example.