Note for us in CA: They're also supposed to be super drought tolerant.. so they attract beneficial bugs and don't take up my precious water?!?! And flower within 1-2 months of sowing seeds? And they're actually pretty????? Um... yes please!

Down here there's a plant, common name butterfly weed because it's very ugly but it attracts a lot of butterflies. The other thing it attracts is aphids. What the organic gardeners do is plant butterfly weed in a remote part of the garden or behind the out buildings. The plant is soon covered with aphids which attracts the lady bugs and praying mantis. Once the beneficials are near enough, they will go out hunting on other plants, but if you don't have enough food to get them there, you won't get the beneficials.

Yeah I think that's like milkweed right? A lot of people do that here in CA too. I just don't like the look of milkweed or butterfly weed tho. I'm probabaly picky. But that's why I'm pretty excited about discovering purple tansy/fiddleneck! I actually like the look of it! It is also supposed to attract LOTS of bees so it's great for my fruits... but I guess it's bad if you don't want bee's in your yard due to little kids, allergy, etc. I want bee's so I'm all about it.

Pretty color, drought-tolerant and useful. That's my kind of plant. Even though they're annuals, which I don't grow, I imagine they'll spread through their seeds. Please do keep us updated about this. I like any plant that attracts bees, we need to keep those little guys happy.

I actually can picture this beautifully in your garden Ingrid! I hope it works out here and I will definitely keep you updated.

I don't usually grow annuals either (besides veggies and some alyssum)... But the benefit of this one being an annual is the use in garden while growing, then also in a compost heap later. At least that's the idea. I haven't had a compost heap for years, but with all these new plants, now it's time to have one again. Let's see how it works out. :)

I tried to grow this tansy from seed in the summer of 2015 to stabilize the soil on a slope and as a soil enriching green crop. The California Quail we have in abundance around here ate every seed (hundreds) but one. One seed germinated and lasted for a day before the blasted quail got it, too. I'm sure you'll have better luck than I, Cori Ann. I think it's a very pretty, unusual plant, sort of like a fiddle head. There's nothing like good annuals for long flowering in summer. Diane

I'm thinking your idea of growing this tansy in pots is an excellent one. I would like to try it, and see if the quail leave it alone, which they should. That still leaves me with the problem of something for soil stabilization, though I planted lots of lavender starts on the slope this summer and that is helping a lot. Diane

I'm so sorry that happened, but thank you for sharing that great info Nanadoll! We have quite a few quail and other birds here that will definitely eat the seeds if they're yummy. I will take your experience to heart and cover up the areas were I seed with burlap until they sprout. They're supposed to sprout within a week or 2. GREAT info. Thank you so much!

And yes... I think another name for them is actually purple fiddle head. Which makes me laugh for some reason.

Promised to keep you updated so here goes... I direct sowed the seeds maybe a little over a week ago and I think every single one of them has come up!

I haven't even watered them... since we have started getting some rain and it's been cooler. You definitely don't need a lot of seeds if you want to try this in similar climates/conditions. If I was really serious about it I would thin them out... but I'm just going to let them be and see what happens since I'm just experimenting.

I will say this... it has reminded me of being a kid and the wonder of a garden. When I was growing up I was enthralled watching things grow from seed. It really put some childlike fun and wonder back into gardening for me... which I didn't even realize I was missing! It makes me want to try more annuals and natives from seed. Especially if they can condition the soil, help with beneficial bugs and help with pollination. In other areas of the garden I think I will try sweat peas, lupine, and maybe even some alfalfa for rose companion plants too! ;)

Here's some photos..

Criss cross pattern of lacy phacelia seedlings around baby Archduke Charles...

Little rows of lacy phacelia seedlings between Dames de Chenonceau, as well as a few other hybrid teas...

Lacy phacelia seedlings rows between baby citrus/avocado trees and baby tea roses (MFK, Jesse Hildreth and Homere)...

And in a container near some of my fruits/veggies in the potager....

I honestly didn't expect so many seedlings to come up so quick with such little care! It's so fun!

I will keep you updated on what happens over the winter/spring. :)

Oh I should also mention I didn't end up covering them up with anything and the birds obviously haven't eaten them yet... but the dogs may help with that. The mulch may have helped too.

Wow, they sure did germinate! I'll be watching to see how the do. I love throwing out annual seed in the fall and having them bloom early before it gets too hot. I need to find some Clarkia seeds. Annies has lots of great plants but it's hard to find the seeds of those varieties. Can't wait to see how your tansy' do. Lisa

Oh Lisa I just saw a nice variety of Clarkia seeds online at Larner seeds... http://www.larnerseeds.com/store/term/annual-wildflowers.

I didn't buy clarkia, but I did buy some lupine seeds from them. :)

Looks like they sell this same lacy phacelia too. I should say that I bought my phacelia from American Meadows.

I wish you luck with the Lacy Phacelia; it's a lovely native. I wonder if this cultivar of Common Milkweed might appeal to you more than the orange Butterfly Weed? I think A. incarnata is one of the prettier U.S. milkweeds, but it isn't a CA native, alas.

I've also been mulling over the possible benefits of adding berry-producing plants such as Elderberry and Wax Myrtles (Morello sp.) to attract insects and insectivorous birds. I don't say attracting beneficial insects, since the supposedly bad bugs attract "beneficial" predators, and those predators are lamentably uninterested in singling out the bugs we don't like- they'll eat other predators also. As a general rule, bugs are neither all good or all bad, although the equation can change dramatically with introduced species that have no natural predators... That's a situation that can be bad news from a number of perspectives...

Good luck,

Virginia

I don't know Virginia. Annie's does a good job of making Milkweed look pretty in photos, but I'm a finicky gardener and it's still not my favorite look. I have thought about putting some CA native milkweed in hidden areas on and off for years but I just cant find the right spot where I don't have to look at it. Maybe now that I had an area of the front/side yard cleared I could try some annual milkweed there with the ugly swampy foliage hidden behind ceanothus or a low growing manzanita with some penstemen to hide it's ugliness even more.

I know some really like the look of it. I just don't.

Phacelia is pretty though!

I think the only milkweed I might ever grow is this...

http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/99--asclepias-eriocarpa

Indian milkweed (asclepias eriocarpa).

It's the foliage of milkweed that gets to me. It's that swampy look like most tansy has. This one is fuzzy so it doesn't bother me so much. I would still need to hide it with penstemon, salvia, ceanothus or something like those wooly blue curls in the photo. Maybe. I do like the idea of providing a monarch habitat. It's an idea. Thank you for it!

Thanks, Cori Ann. I'm off to look at the clarkia seeds! Lisa

They're really cute little seedlings when their first set of real leaves sprout. Easiest germination ever here in CA this time of year.

Virginia I ended up trying that Indian milkweed (asclepias eriocarpa) from Las Pilitas nursery too. I put it in with some ceanothus, lupine and penstemen on a slope on the street side of my fence. There are some pink crepe myrtles near and pink roses growing on my irrigated "yard" side of the fence, which will drape over the fence in time. I think with all that, I will end up liking the look. Thank you for the idea of trying to find something for the monarchs. :)

They are dormant now, but I'm very curious to see how I like the look once they get going. I hope they end up looking like the Las Pilitas photo with all the other purple native plants near them.

Hmmmm. Birds are eating something in my yard lately because they're all over... but I'm not sure what. The seeds are all still sprouting so I don't think it's those. There's lots of worms in the soil, and acorns from the neighbors oak tree. Or they could be eating some seeds and leaving others. They didn't seem to eat enough lacy phacelia to make a difference though. Soooooo many germinated and are sprouting! I have way more than expected.

Here's an update. Been about 3 months and no blooms yet, but they're growing nicely and I like the lush fern-y foliage.

Here they are to the right in the background with Barbra Streisand.

The ones with the fruit trees in raised beds are very happy, thick and stocky. I fertilized the fruit trees so that's why.

Between some other roses in raised beds.

In the pots near the berries and the fountain. Bulbs, green onions, mint and thyme are here too.

So far I really like it! Can't wait to see all the pollinators it attracts once everything is blooming!

Just barely starting to bloom. I noticed something really awesome. Lacy Phacelia seems to attract these little flies that are striped green and black and hover around to eat aphids! With all the rain California has had this winter... the aphids are crazy. Some plants have the most aphids I have ever seen personally in my life! But all the plants near the Lacy Phacelia have almost NO aphids! And the Lacy Phacelia itself has absolutely none!! There are lots of those little flies nearby that are eating all the aphids. Sorry I don't know bugs that well so I'm not quite sure what they are, but they are hungry!

The plants that are not near the Lacy Phacelia started to get overrun with aphids this past week so I actually went out and bought some lady bugs to help out.

Very interesting! It's quite a noticeable difference. If that's the case, this is definitely going to be an annual addition to my yard!

Cori Ann, It sounds like you are describing Hoverflies. They look like a cross between a fly and a bee. Yes, they are one of the good guys. Their larvae eat thrips too. Here's a link to a video that shows the larvae in action: Hoverflies and larvae.

I usually don't worry much anymore when I see aphids on my roses, unless they are completely overwhelming the plant, because I want them to invite the beneficials, like hoverflies into the garden. Paul Zimmerman has an article called Got Thrips On Your Roses? Get aphids!

Thanks for the Purple Tansy tip. They are so interesting looking and it sounds like they will do well, alongside the roses in your garden. Natural pest control! I really would love to attract more hoverflies, especially now that I have chilli thrips. However, I will have to think of where I can plant phacelia. They look like they aggressively spread, which wouldn't work well in my small garden. Perhaps someone will come up with a non-self sowing variety one day?

Your phacelia not only look gorgeous, but what a payoff: all those hoverflies eating aphids and thrips. If only I could keep the quail from eating the phacelia seeds. I wonder if I should try again. Your garden looks wonderful, and as I said in another thread, I love the variety of herbs and plants you are growing.

Bonnie, you need some California Quail (like my unwanted herd) to eat unwanted seeds. The trouble is, they eat the wanted seeds, too. But what an interesting association-- when the aphids come, it attracts hoverflies which eat both aphids and thrips. A double whammy. Diane

Jasmine thanks for the tip! They do look like hover flies! Cool!

I am not sure if they aggressively spread and will definitely let you know. In my yard, they germinated really easy and every seed seemed to come up. But Diane didn't have any luck with these since quail ate all of hers, so obviously they may not sprout like that everywhere! Here, they haven't flowered or set seed yet so I'm not sure how much they will actually spread. They do pull up really easy. I mean really, really easy. And they're supposedly 4% nitrogen so they can add that back to your garden if you compost. Since they're just an annual, it could be worth an experiment in your yard. They are attracting the good bugs already before they're really even blooming, just from their foliage, so you might be able to pull them up before they even flower or set seed and still get a benefit. :)

Thanks, Cori Ann. I would really like to have them. I will look over my strip of land and see if I can find a place for phacelia. From your photos, it looks like I could grow them in pots.

Diane, it sounds like you have a lot of quail. Perhaps you could start the seeds in pots too and then transplant them outside when the plants are large enough.

Cori Ann, good luck with chilly thrips. I'd like to go chemical free too, but I have midge to deal with, without Bayer's chemicals I won't have any blooms. I wish there is a chemical can kill midge, and I can go chemical free after that.......

Thanks Summers. I'm not sure if we have chilli thrips here yet. We have the most aphids I have ever seen after all this rain though. If the Lacy Phacelia is attracting hover flies, and if they do take care of both aphids and chili thrips.... awesome!!!

Here's an example of the difference I am noticing in aphids near the Lacy Phacelia vs away from it.

Here is poor Don Juan, who became overrun with aphids this past week. I usually just knock em off or let native lady bugs handle it, but this was so bad I bought lady bugs for this bush because I could see it was already starting to affect its health. I mean look at those leaves! We don't ever get blackspot here, but this many aphids quickly seemed to lower poor Don Juan's health so he got it. This one does not have Lacy Phacelia planted all around it. Keep in mind this is after the lady bugs have been eating all last evening and this morning. It was even worse yesterday.

And just a few feet away, here's photos of rose bushes that do have Lacy Phacelia planted all around them. The aphids are still there... but MUCH less. And that's with no store bought lady bugs on these bushes. Just the local hoverflies I guess! It's pretty amazing. It seems, in my yard, the Lacy Phacelia needs to be planted right next to the rose bush and all around it... not just in the general vicinity in order to make a big difference with the aphids.

Cori Ann,

There is a tansy I have grown that may be of interest/value to you. It is Tanacetum densum ami, aka. Partridge Feather/Silver Fernleaf Tansy, ht. 10".

Of course, you may be well aware of it, as you also may be of the Tanacetum balsamita camphoratum, aka. Camphor Costmary, ht. 12", with its broad, light green leaves, possessing a strong camphor scent.

The first tansy has very lovely silvery gray foliage, but the flowers are only so-so, little yellow buttons in scraggly clusters that can easily be nipped off if you like. It doesn't run rampantly at the root like so many perennial tansies, and can take a good bit of dryness.

Thanks Moses. The foliage is nice on that one. I'm not a fan of yellow flowers for some reason (I know I'm strange), but one tansy with silver foliage that I have been thinking about is Tanacetum niveum 'Jackpot Tansy. It looks like Shasta Daisies, but with silvery green, ferny foliage. It's a perennial though so I have to make sure I really like it year round. If it attracts beneficial buggers like this Lacy Phacelia though... I think I want it!

We just got rid of a camphor tree my father in law planted a long time ago. That's a fragrance I don't think I would put back into my yard. The guys that removed it kept remarking about how it smelled like icy-hot or bengay. Very accurate!

Wow Cori Ann, I thought since you defoliated your roses you would avoid having aphids... I was desperate, they were outrageous! I couldn't get rid of them neither with water, nor with lady bugs (they left me without saying goodbye), nor with lacewings (not enough of those friends). so I just ended up spending hours after work just trying to control them manually, swearing next winter I will defoliate every single thing. I literally had green thumbs and other fingers too! lol Fortunately for me we've been braking heat records last week and what a difference! They are barely seeing now. Now I'm following your experience with Phacelia for future planting it around roses hoping I will have the same astonishing effect. By the way, mint doesn't work repelling aphids as reported in some articles and books.

Hi Natasha. That's great the heat reduced aphids for you.

I don't think defoliating would help with aphids. As soon as the new foliage grows they have a place to colonize. All the rain we have gotten has helped everything to grow, which only gives the aphids more food... but the Lacy Phacelia seemed to really help. I'm so happy about it!

I have some Corsican mint in pots around some of my berries and other plants and I will say that does actually seem to help with pests. I don't think ants or aphids in the ground like having their home smell like toothpaste. I don't know for sure... but I like it so I have it in a few spots. I don't think that would be appropriate for around roses though! :)

My mint doesn't do anything. Different kinds... right in the rose bed. One is touching the rose and I keep finding aphids underneath mint leaves. No luck there.

Watch out for the mint---it can be really invasive. And thanks for all the tips on how phacelia is working on attracting the hover flies. Who'd a thought. I must try it again, but in pots. Diane

Thank you, Diane, I'm catching all runners so far (at least I think so :))

I have officially geeked out about this plant. I love Lacy Phacelia. Its my new favorite rose companion. It's pretty isn't it?

And it's already attracted so many hoverflies that they aren't just eating aphids...they are making babies and the larvae are eating aphids far away on other plants that aren't around the Lacy Phacelia!

Diane and Natasha here's a photo showing the Lacy Phacelia in pots, but you can see that Corsican mint I was talking about in the background around the border of the pots. It's a groundcover like pennyroyal, but it likes part to full shade. I have it in pots around my berries. I also have a little "lawn" of it in the front yard near the shade of a redwood. So when it starts to grow too far out from the edge of the pots I just divide it and put it in the "lawn."

Side note, that onion about to flower on the left came from food scraps of store bought organic green onions that I planted. How cool is that?

Well here's an update. The Lacy Phacelia is very happy here. I haven't been watering it at all. Just rain water (we did get A LOT). It has gotten HUGE. 4-5 feet tall and pretty wild looking. I was going to cut some down to thin it out a bit, but how can I when 100s and 100s of bees are enjoying it so much? I can't capture how many there are in photos, but there are SOOOOOOooooo many happy bees! Seriously 100s... and that's being conservative.

It is supposed to be done by June so I'm just going to let most of it grow as it wants through April and May for the bees. Then I will cut it down and turn it into green manure for my other plants. Next year, now that I know how easy it germinates, I won't sow quite so many! It's a great companion plant for roses, fruits, citrus, etc... and it looks luscious. But wow it sure did take off!

The weird peony poppies have grown crazy tall too. They're so alien looking!

Bees bees bees. The buzzing is LOUD!

I've grown this Phacelia before (Phacelia campanularia), aka desert bluebells. It is very blue and drought tolerant.

I don't think you'll have to sow any phacelia next year, Cori Ann. If it's like purple poppies, you will be thinning seedlings instead. That and reseeding alyssum. Boy, do I have some thinning to do. I love how everything's growing for you and think it's wonderful about the bees. I can just hear them now. We get some of that effect when all the boxwood here is in bloom. Diane