Here’s an unusual look at blue vervain — a view from above at very close range.

Verbena hastata is one of my favorite flowers because of its color and size.  The plant can grow five feet tall but its flowers are tiny, five-petaled and blue.  They bloom in clusters that ring the flower spikes as they bloom from bottom to top.

Click here for a more typical view.

Blue vervain blooms from late June through September in western Pennsylvania.  You’ll find lots of it at Jennings Prairie.

Visit the prairie with the Wissahickon Nature Club on Monday, July 29.

(photo by Kate St. John)