Native Plant Highlight- Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat

Looking for an easy to grow, drought tolerant new addition for your home landscape? Here is a plant you may like, the Santa Cruz Island buckwheat( Eriogonum arb

orescens). It has a unique texture with pale pink flower clusters. It is growing at the La Loma Native Garden, where it is growing well and needs little attention. It requires full sun, little water, and maintains an attractive mounding form that stays in a manageable size. It could grow to about two feet tall and three feet wide. It is a summer bloomer, with a longer bloom cycle than most. The dense flat topped flower clusters turn from pink to a rusty red as they age, and provide color most of the year. The leaves are a narrow silvery gray green. The blooms are rich in nectar and attract both butterflies and bees. The plant is endemic to the Channel Islands of California and can be grown with desert or chaparral type plant communities. It is a tough plant, tolerating both clay or alkaline soils. It would be an excellent plant for erosion control, but will also look good in any water wise landscape. One of its best features is its compact form. Check it out at Blossom Hill Nursery.