It’s strange to have buckwheats blooming
this time of year. But the garden is
young (got a little extra water this summer), the weather’s been capricious and
our Ashy-leaf Buckwheat is blooming like crazy. This IS a later blooming species (summer-fall),
so we shouldn’t be too surprised. But November
is ‘late-normal’ even for this species.
Ashy-leaf Buckwheat is a coastal native. It grows wild on dunes and coastal bluffs
from Santa Barbara County to Los Angeles County. Its local range stretches inland for several
miles on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, but in general it’s a plant of low-elevation
(< 500 ft) coastal areas. While
Mother Nature’s Backyard is not coastal (about seven miles from the coast) - and
our soil is loam (not sand) - we decided
to try this local favorite. So far, so
good!
Ashy-leaf Buckwheat shares many
characteristics with other native buckwheats (see Plant of the Month - July,
2012 for more on this interesting genus).
It’s a half-woody sub-shrub with
many slender branches. The overall shape
is mounded to sprawling depending on light, soil type and other conditions. On
coastal dunes and bluffs it sprawls close to the ground, pruned by the harsh
winds and blowing sand and salt. Further
inland – and in our garden – it forms a mound two to three feet high and as
much as 5 feet across. Like many local sub-shrubs, this species grows
to full size in 1-2 years – relatively quickly for a California native shrub.
As suggested by its common name, the
Ashy-leaf Buckwheat has light colored leaves compared to other local buckwheats. It is grown for both its attractive foliage
and its flowers. Early in the season, the leaves are a lovely
pastel green that contrasts beautifully with the flowers. As the plant dehydrates during the dry season,
the leaves become curled and ashy-looking.
The light color of the leaves is due to long trichomes (plant hairs)
that cover the leaves and stems (see picture below).
While most native buckwheats have hairs on
young leaves, this species retains them longer than most. The leaves of Ashy-leaf Buckwheat are also slightly
larger (at least 1 inch long) than two other local shrubby buckwheats (Eriogonum fasciculatum and Eriogonum parvifolium) – though not as
large as those of the Giant Buckwheat/St. Catherine’s Lace (Eriogonum giganteum).
The flowers are another attractive feature
of the Ashy-leaf Buckwheat. The tiny flowers
are packed into dense, ball-like clusters at the ends of flowering stalks. The perianth (non-sexual part of the flower) is
white to pale pink (more usual). In buckwheats,
the perianth is composed of leaf-like bracts, rather than petals in the
strictest sense. The sexual parts of the
flower extend beyond the perianth to promote pollination (see photo below). The flower color is among the prettiest we
know for a pink-purple themed garden.
Like all native buckwheats, Ashy-leaf
Buckwheat is an important habitat plant, particularly for insects. The
flowers attract an array of insect visitors including bees, butterflies,
pollinator flies, wasps and butterflies (particularly the smaller butterflies
like Skippers, Blues and Hairstreaks).
Planting buckwheats for pollinators and butterflies makes sense; but who
would want to attract more wasps to their garden? Perhaps you, if you want their help in controlling
aphids, mealy bugs, scale insects and other common garden pests.
Birds and other small creatures eat the
seeds in late summer and fall. This is a
good reason to resist the urge to prune off the dead flowers too soon. If you wait until later – or just let nature
take its course – you can also enjoy the red-brown color of the mature bracts
and seeds. Their color and shape add
welcome variety to the autumn garden.
Buckwheats like sun near the coast and a
little afternoon shade in hotter inland gardens. We’ve planted several plants in different
areas of the garden – some with more shade than others. This is often a good strategy if you’re not
sure how well a plant will do under different light/temperature conditions.
Ashy-leaf Buckwheat likes a well-drained
soil. While native to sandy soils, it can
succeed in local clays and loams as long as it is not over-watered (see this
month’s post on Soil Testing (October, 2012) to learn more about your garden’s
soil). Don’t worry if your soil pH is on
the high end. This species can take
soils that are even a bit above 8.0
Newly planted Ashy-leaf Buckwheats need
moist soil while getting established (the first 3-4 months). That’s one reason why late fall/early winter
is the best time to plant them. Once
established, they need only occasional summer water – none on the immediate
coast. In most gardens, watering several times during the dry season
is adequate. Plants look best – and are healthiest
- when treated as Water Zone 1-2 (clay/loam soils) or 2 (sandy soils). See our April 2012 post for more on Water Zone
Gardening.
Like many local native plants, Ashy-leaf
Buckwheat doesn’t need fertilizer. It
also doesn’t like much organic mulch once it gets established (see our July
2012 post on Mulches). If you want to
use a mulch, we suggest an inorganic one or a thin (1-2 inch layer) of organic
mulch just to get the plant started. As the
mulch breaks down, the plant itself will
supply sufficient mulch for its needs.
In general, native buckwheats don’t need
much pruning. Trim off the dead seed
heads once the birds have picked them clean in late fall. Remove dead branches when you notice them
during the growing season. Other than
that, the plant has a nice natural shape that requires little assistance. If you want a bushier plant, cut back the
branch tips by several inches the first fall.
If your plant becomes raggedy-looking after 3-5 years, you can prune it
down to about 8 inches in late fall.
For our 1-page gardening sheet on this plant see: http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/native_plants/pdf/Eriogonum_cinereum.pdf
For our 1-page gardening sheet on this plant see: http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/native_plants/pdf/Eriogonum_cinereum.pdf
________________________________
We encourage you to share your experiences
with Ashy-leaf Buckwheat in the Comments box below. And as always, we welcome your comments and
questions at: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com
Wow these plants are totally awesome..especially that Buckwheat plants..
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