Red Valerian

Year-round

Red Valerian is a tough Mediterranean ornamental, not native to Texas or the Llano Estacado, that does well in Lubbock's dry alkaline soil once it is established.

• Red Valerian is native to the Mediterranean and southern Europe. It is grown here purely as a garden ornamental and is not native to Texas or the High Plains.
• Give it full sun to a little afternoon shade and soil that drains fast. Lubbock's alkaline sandy loam over caliche is actually a good match once compacted spots are loosened up.
• Water it while it gets established, then back off. This plant prefers dry conditions and can develop crown rot if the soil stays wet, which matters most where caliche traps water near the surface.
• Deadhead the spent flower clusters through the growing season. It reseeds easily and can pop up beyond where you planted it if the seed heads are left standing.
• It is winter hardy well past Lubbock's USDA zone 7b to 8a range, so normal Panhandle cold snaps are not a concern for an established plant.

Fall

Fall bloom carries on until the first freeze, and it is a good window to tidy the plant up before winter.

• Red Valerian keeps blooming into fall right up until frost. Lubbock's average first fall freeze is around October 31.
• Deadhead through early fall if you want to limit self-seeding. Once you let a late flush go to seed, the wind-dispersed seed heads can carry into nearby beds or gravel.
• After the first freeze blackens the top growth, cut the dead stems back to the woody base. The plant regrows from there in spring.
• This is also a reasonable time to divide an overgrown clump if you want to spread it to another spot in the yard, since summer heat stress has passed.

A fall cutback after the first freeze clears out the blackened, flopped stems so the front bed does not read as neglected through winter.

Winter

Winter is quiet for Red Valerian in Lubbock. Top growth may die back, but the woody base is hardy well beyond what the Panhandle throws at it.

• Red Valerian is rated hardy to USDA zone 5a, well past Lubbock's zone 7b to 8a, so an established plant handles normal Panhandle cold snaps and ice without protection.
• If you did not cut back dead stems in fall, this is a fine time to do it. It leaves a neater, low silhouette through winter.
• Skip winter watering unless the region goes through an extended dry spell. Wet soil in cold weather raises the risk of crown rot more than the cold itself.
• A light layer of mulch over the crown is optional insurance in the most wind-exposed spots, but it is not required for a plant this hardy.

A cut-back, low winter silhouette reads as tended rather than neglected in a front yard bed visible from the street.

Spring

Spring is when Red Valerian wakes up and starts its first bloom flush, right as Lubbock's last frost risk fades.

• Lubbock's average last spring freeze is around April 10. Wait until after that to do any hard cutback so you are not exposing new growth to a late cold snap.
• Cut back any stems that died over winter down to the fresh green growth at the base. This clears the way for the first bloom flush.
• New spring growth can draw aphids. Check the tips of new shoots and hose them off, or let beneficial insects handle a light infestation before it spreads.
• Hold off on heavy watering. Spring rain in Lubbock is usually enough to get the plant going, and soggy caliche-backed soil is a bigger risk than dry soil this time of year.

Cutting winter-damaged stems back to fresh growth gives the front bed a clean, tended look right as the first blooms open.

Summer

Summer is peak bloom for Red Valerian, and Lubbock's hot dry stretch is close to the conditions it evolved for.

• This plant handles Lubbock's high heat and low humidity well once its roots are established, and it keeps blooming from early summer into fall if you stay on top of deadheading.
• Deadhead spent flower clusters every week or two through the summer. It encourages more blooms and keeps the plant from dropping wind-blown seed into gravel paths or neighboring beds.
• Water deeply but infrequently. In richer or consistently damp soil the stems can get floppy and need staking, so Lubbock's lean, fast-draining ground actually helps it stay compact.
• Watch for aphids or mealybugs during a hot dry stretch. Neither is usually serious on this plant, so a strong spray of water is often enough.

Staying on top of summer deadheading keeps the plant from flopping over a walkway or edging and stops volunteer seedlings from showing up where they were not planted.