With the recent rain and chill overnight temperatures in LA, conditions for planting wildflower seeds right now couldn’t be better. Just in time for the Winter 2022-23 planting season, we have a limited amount of seed on offer this year, both annual and perennial. All were collected this summer from the LANPS garden and are local species that you won’t find just anywhere. Each $5 packet contains one-quarter teaspoon (unless otherwise noted) and shipping is free. See “How to Order.” As always, 100% of our sales are donated to the Theodore Payne Foundation.
Caterpillar Phacelia – Phacelia cicutaria
Caterpillar Phacelia is another iconic local wildflower one seldom sees in cultivated gardens. Bush-like in form, with diminutive clusters of flowers that range from white to mauve to lavender and unfurl in graceful, caterpillar-like arabesques, Phacelia cicutaria will thrive in full sun to part shade. Abundant blossoms and a long flowering period make this a favorite with the pollinator crowd. A couple of caveats: the tiny hairs that cover the stems of Caterpillar Phacelia can be irritating to the skin and are best handled with gardening gloves. Also, this wildflower lavishly self-seeds and will quickly begin to show up all over your garden each fall. This may require some curating as you cull any seedlings that may pop up in an inopportune spot. Recommended sewing method: Broadcast
Punch Bowl Godetia – Clarkia bottae
While inexplicably uncommon in cultivated gardens, this Clarkia graces our local foothills in late spring after most other wildflowers are spent (giving it its popular nickname, “Farewell to Spring”). More refined and subtle than the common, comparatively garish Elegant Clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata), this understated wildflower will add a touch of wistful, High Romantic beauty to your springtime landscape. Clarkia bottae is happy in full sun but will also bloom in dappled shade. It is a vigorous self-seeder, resulting in an ever-more abundant display each successive season. Recommended sewing method: Broadcast
Sunflower – Helianthus annuus
With its seemingly endless, cheerful yellow flowers, abundant seeds beloved of Lesser Goldfinches, long blooming period and virtually no extra water required once it gets going, Helianthus annuus is an LA native powerhouse. Technically an annual, Sunflower will sometimes survive the summer and keep blooming like crazy right through to the following spring. This wildflower can grow up to 12-feet tall under the right conditions, but most often it forms an open-form, midsize bush, taller than it is wide. Even once it’s spent, the dry stalks provide perches for birds as they happily feast on its seeds throughout the summer – a true wildlife magnet. Our original “mother seed” came from a vacant, hillside lot on Figueroa Avenue in Eagle Rock, so it’s a hyper-local strain, perfectly adapted to our climate. Recommended sewing method: Broadcast or start in pots/flats
Scarlet Larkspur – Delphinium cardinale SORRY – SOLD OUT
Scarlet Larkspur’s truly spectacular display occurs in late spring and is guaranteed to drive your resident posse of hummingbirds wild. A rosette of visually interesting, Goth-inspired leaves appears in late fall from an underground corm, then gives way to a long stalk loaded with crimson, “dolphin-shaped” flowers, May-June. After setting seed, it dies back to the ground around midsummer. An easy-to-grow perennial, Delphinium cardinale may take a year or two before flowering. It’s perfect for planting between larger shrubs where it will find a spot to poke through (as it does in the wild). Once established, self-seeding will produce a gradually expanding colony of these exquisite, rarely encountered local natives. Recommended sewing method: start in pots/flats or broadcast
