Veronica encompasses roughly 250 species, a range wide enough to include everything from creeping mat-formers that hug the ground at a few inches to upright border perennials reaching 4 feet. What most share is a fondness for regular, even moisture in well-drained soil and a characteristic flower form: small blooms borne on slender upright racemes that open progressively from the base upward, creating a clean vertical line in the garden. The foliage can run from deep green to gold and yellow depending on the cultivar, and many selections are available as named hybrids that must be propagated vegetatively to stay true.

The taller, spiked forms are most useful as vertical accents, particularly in mixed borders where they add a counterpoint to the rounder or more sprawling shapes of neighboring plants. After the first flush of bloom, cutting back to the basal rosette often encourages a second round of flowers later in the season. The low-growing, creeping speedwells play a different role entirely: spilling over rock garden edges, filling gaps at the front of the border, or covering ground between stepping stones with a fine-textured carpet that produces its small light blue flowers in spring. Deer tend to avoid the genus, a practical advantage in gardens where browsing pressure is a factor.