Where Does Valerian Grow Best?

Wondering where does Valerian grow best? Read on to find out and other tips to grow Valerian. 

I’ve been growing Valerian herb in many gardens of my past, well before we moved up here to the Cariboo. It is a wonderful perennial plant, so it dies back in the fall and then grows again in the spring. You can grow them from Valerian seeds or buy Valerian seedlings in a container and transplant it.

Where Does Valerian Grow Best?

Valerian (valeriana officinalis) can be grown in lots of garden zones – these plants are quite hardy and will grow well in Zones 3 – 9. A little frost won’t hurt them, unless it’s late Fall (then it’s time to cut them back to the ground for winter anyway).

Common Valerian grows as natives species throughout Europe and Asia, and can also be found growing naturally in North America, including Canada.

If you want to grow Valerian herb, you need to know what type of light it needs for optimum growth and flowers. Valerian grows best in sunlight. It loves growing in full sun, so feel at ease to plant it in your sunny perennial bed or even at the back of a vegetable garden that gets full sun.

Although Valerian loves to be in full sun, sometimes that just isn’t possible due to the way our backyards and flower gardens are sited. That’s fine, because you can easily grow this pretty perennial in filtered sunlight and partial shade. 

So, if it’s got some daily shade from trees, that will be fine; as long as it gets good sunlight for part of the day, your Valerian will flourish where it is. 

I absolutely love the fragrance of Valerian (it smells a bit like vanilla) so I just kept dividing existing plants and brought some along when we moved. I’ve always just planted it again at the new place. I brought some up here and planted them in the flower garden right under the porch.

Butterflies love the fragrance and so do cats and bees!

 

How to Plant Valerian

I try to plant Valerian root close to the house windows or the porch, so we can enjoy the wonderful fragrance. Valerian grows tall, more than 5 feet so it’s a good idea to enclose the plant with a Tomato cage in early Spring to let those tall stems get some extra support. A heavy rain can really damage the plant.

They love moisture, so be sure to water regularly. It’s a lover of rich soil, so be sure to plant in nitrogen rich dirt. Lots of aged compost is perfect to add to the planting hole.

When Does Valerian Bloom?

Valerian blooms through the months of June through August, and sometimes into September here in Zone 3. It blooms for about 6 weeks and at the end of the season, Valerian self seeds very easily; just don’t cut all the blooms when they are finished. Let the seed fall on the ground. In spring, some of those seeds will probably germinate and grow.

 

 

Transplanting Valerian

Left alone, Valerian will do it’s own self-seeding, growing in clumps in your garden. You can dig up any new plants that pop up and move them to where they will have room to grow. Valerian looks wonderful planted in a mass, so don’t worry about them being crowded – it looks beautiful.

You likely won’t even need to prune them – just cut to the ground in Fall and they’ll come back in Spring.

 

 

You can see the Valerian growing on the front far right in the photo. It’s right behind the tulips. It won’t take long to shoot up several more feet, then start to bloom. The leaves are toothed and the flower heads grow in clusters.

Some people use Valerian to help them sleep. Wonderful, wonderful…if you have some room, plant one of these!

 

 

The bees love the flowers and we all know we need as many bees as possible to pollinate our food supply. We actually seed our lawns with Clover as the bees love it so much!

In turn, they pollinate all the food growing in our vegetable gardens. 

 

 

I love to harvest by cutting a small nosegay and putting it in a mason jar of water. Placed on the nightstand, it is wonderful how the scent fills the room. 

What other names in Valerian known as?

The official name of Valerian is Valeriana officinalis, but it goes by other common names such as Garden Heliotrope, setwall and phu.

Red Valerian

I have not grow Centranthus Ruber (common name Red Valerian) but it is naturally growing throughout England. You can find seeds and seedling plants in North American for the red variety. Sow seeds (or start indoors for germination before planting out in spring) the same as for the Common Valerian.

Now you know where does Valerian grow best – plant some this year!

 

More flower garden articles:

Ready to landscape? Here’s how to make a flower bed for anywhere in your yard.

The Perfect plants for that shady spot in your yard.

One hour in Fall will give you weeks of color in Spring! Here’s how to plant flower bulbs.

 

Originally published Mar 2017; latest update Dec 2024