Gilia by JLT Connor
California Gilia (Gilia achillefolia)
April 11, 2023 marked the date of my first CNPS field trip. I parked along Intergarrison Road in Fort Ord, then joined the small group gathered around Andrew Werner, the hike organizer. Andrew proudly clutched a pot of small Gilia tricolor that he had grown from seed. We admired his wiry, little bird’s eye gilia wildflowers and his descriptions of other native plants we might encounter on the trails we would explore. I was delighted to meet a new tribe of hiking colleagues and some unfamiliar California native plants.
Gilia is a genus in the Polemoniaceae, the phlox family of 27 genera and hundreds of annual and perennial species native to the Americas, with the center of diversity in western North America. Why was it so unfamiliar?
My second encounter with Gilia was at the April 2025 meeting of the Santa Cruz County Chapter of CNPS.
Kari Olsen, the chapter’s propagation leader, provided a selection of small plants as door prizes. April must be my lucky Gilia month! I held one of the lucky tickets, and a four-pack of Gilia achilleifolia seedlings found a home in my native plant garden. Kari had been on that Fort Ord hike too and, like me, she was enamored with Andrew’s plants. Andrew was the source of the precious Gilia seeds that Kari and the propagation group grew for the chapter’s plant sales and door prizes.
The highly variable species that I brought home has several nick-names: California gilia, California gily-flower, and blue gilia. My G. achilleifolia garden plants were shy, not competing with the Matilija poppies or manzanitas for anyone’s attention. I was still fond of their spindly sprawl, their sad attempts to stand erect, while leaning over curvy stems. I admired the basal cluster of delicate, alternate-branched leaves and the inflorescence of blue-violet flowers that bloomed so sweetly and discreetly in May. Under my microscope, the blue corolla was a delight, no doubt a delicious wonder for bees. Now I want to find William Kirk’s book: A Colour Guide to Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee, to see the world through an insect’s eyes.
By June, the garden was dry and my Gilia exhausted, with small clusters of seeds hanging from desiccated branches. I’ll save those precious little seeds and try again. Next time I’ll pay closer attention to advice from my gilia gurus, Andrew Werner and Kari Olsen. Kari just sent me a picture of her beautiful, blooming Gilia and reminded me, “Supplemental irrigation would extend plant growth and encourage more flowers and seeds into the summer.” Okay, next time, a bit more moisture on my favorite wildflowers!
kingdom Plantae, phylum Anthophyta, class Monocotyledones, order Ericales, family Polemoniaceae, genus and species Gilia achilleifolia