As you are planning this year’s mixed container designs, The Garden Guy wants to give you some ideas to "punch up" your verbenas. I fear your first question is, "What verbenas?" The verbena is that flower your grandparents grew in long beds at the streetside. At least mine did, in Merkel, Texas, west of Abilene.

Today verbenas are the darling of mixed containers and if they are not at your house they should be. The place to start is the award-winning Superbena verbena group. Superbena is just as the name sounds: super verbena. There are 11 varieties, and all get about 12 inches tall and spread 24 to 30 inches.

While they all will do well in prepared beds, my greatest joy is using them in containers. With a spread of up to 30 inches, you realize you are going to get some nice spiller activity. That’s really an understatement as it will be closer to waterfalls of blossoms.

You may be asking: With all that blooming activity why do you need to punch it up? That’s The Garden Guy’s preference and the punch it up reference is pointing to picking out Superbells Punch varieties of calibrachoas as partners. If you have not grown calibrachoas, they are like small petunias produced by the dozens.

There are 42 varieties of Superbells, six of which are Punch selections. So, by this I mean Superbells Pomegranate Punch, Grape Punch, Tangerine Punch, Watermelon Punch, Strawberry Punch and Blue Moon Punch. They too get about 12 inches tall with a 24-inch spread.

It is this intermingling of blooms that creates your joy of color and texture while at the same time you are giving butterflies and hummingbirds a two-course meal plan if they so choose.

Last week’s column was about the best all time white flowered verbena, named Superbena Whiteout. In that column I showed it partnered with Superbells Pomegranate Punch calibrachoa, one of the showiest red varieties you can grow. Obviously with Superbena Whiteout verbena, any color of punch will look like perfection.

That’s just what James and the Eden Estate Management crew did as they combined Superbells Grape Punch with Superbena Whiteout verbena at the bottom of a large, layered planting with Indian Summer rudbeckia and Angelface angelonia.

Another Superbena that I treasure is called Stormburst. Superbena Stormburst is white with subtle stripes of light blue that almost look silver. For this combination I selected Superbells Watermelon Punch. It turned out magical, like I was a genius. I admit it was pure luck, and you will lose it too.

One of my favorites from last year was Superbena Violet Ice verbena. To me this is a blue flower selection with a white eye. I went with the obvious and chose its complementary colored partner Superbells Tangerine Punch calibrachoa. They both tumbled over my rock wall as if in competition.

The containers are watered daily in the summer unless it rains. Since I am watering so frequently, it is a sure bet the nutrients are getting leached out. So I fertilize every two to three weeks with a water-soluble mix. I put two scoops of the blue fertilizer in a 2-gallon jug with a spout and started feeding container plants.

I also keep a pair of Felco hand pruners handy and snip here and there to keep new growth in development and those blooms coming. I may stick in a sprig of Lemon Coral sedum or Goldilocks lysimachia to add a splash of chartreuse. I’ve also fallen for Graceful Grasses Queen Tut papyrus to give texture and added height.

Here’s hoping you have a great spring planting and a long season of blooms. Don’t forget to "punch up" your Supernbena verbenas with some Superbells Punch varieties of calibrachoas.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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