Featured Plant - California Buckwheat

Painted admiral on California buckwheat at the CA Native Plant Demonstration Garden.

A great addition to the beneficial insect garden is Eriogonum fasciculatum/California buckwheat. This buckwheat is a vigorous butterfly and pollinator plant and very drought tolerant here in Sacramento. At the California Native Plant Demonstration Garden here in Sacramento, they grow in full sun and are located in well-drained soil (will tolerate clay soils, too). They receive only water from the fall and winter rains. We planted them back in 1997 and they are still growing as robustly as ever.

The flowers start opening in spring, are in full bloom by summer, then turn pink, to finally rust-colored in fall. In the winter, it is cut back almost to the ground, and it’s back up to 4 feet tall and wide by the following summer.

My man Bert at Las Pilitas Nursery calls California buckwheat the pillar of the butterfly community. But it is also a key plant for the bee population. In summer, as you pass by the buckwheats, all you can hear is the hum of dozens of European honeybees, native bees, bumblebees, and wasps. In this day of collapsing bee colonies, this is a must-have plant for a healthy and vibrant garden.

Oh look. Another blog.

Well, since you are here, let me introduce to you the beginning of  ‘kinked hose’. This is my first time at blogging, so I hope that my garden and landscape architecture design-related natterings develop into something that is accessible, interesting, and helpful. I’ll even put in pictures for you to look at - some might be very lovely - nifty macro shots of gorgeous flowers, fabulous landscape projects, garden tours - others might show horticulture atrocities or unfortunate failures in landscape designs done by others (or even me!).

Some things I might chat about include: sustainable and water-wise gardening with California natives and other drought tolerant plants, gardening in our Sacramento Valley clay soils, increasing beneficial insects and wildlife in the urban garden, battling invasive weeds, reflections about riparian restoration projects and landscape design in general, the challenges of Homeowners Association landscaping, and my efforts to finally, finally landscape my tiny, bare-earthed courtyard after living in my house for 7 years.

I hope you enjoy the flow.