This weeks cool plant is another native annual. Gilia tricolor is endemic to California and found in the foothills and valley as well as on the coast. It is so easy to grow from seed that I think it is well worth giving a try even if you don’t live in California.
With its bright blue anthers and petals of lavender, maroon, and yellow perhaps “Gilia quadricolor” would have been a better name.
It is a great filler or companion, I have some growing with Orlaya and Scabiosa. Each plant is covered with hundreds of little blooms on ferny foliage that waves and bounces in the breeze. Kind of like a pale purple Gypsophila or Heliophila. I consider this a must for the spring garden now. My only regret is that I didn’t grow more of them. Something I plan on remedying next year.
Garden Propaganda 