Buckwheat season has begun! As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Buckwheats, a large genus (Eriogonum) of annual and perennial flowering plants native to N. America, mainly the arid Western US. This early blooming buckwheat is Eriogonum heracloides, called variously Creamy, Wyeth, Whorled or Parsnipflower Buckwheat. I use ‘Whorled Buckwheat’, as […]
Search Results for: buckwheat
Eriogonum caespitosum
- Mat Buckwheat
- 4
- Sun
- 3" x 12"
- Idaho
A beautiful mat-forming buckwheat topped with delicate round flowers–pale yellow, fading to pink or orange. Excellent rock garden plants. Supports native bees. Choice!
Eriogonum compositum
- Arrow Leaf Buckwheat
- 4
- Sun
- 12-18 in. x 12-18 in.
- Idaho
Arrow Leaf Buckwheat has big oval, pointed leaves basal leaves with leafless stems of cream to yellow pom-poms overhead. Thrives in hot, dry and poor soils. Unusually large buckwheat. More information here.
Eriogonum corymbosum
- Lacy or Crisp-Leaf Buckwheat
- 3
- Sun
- 3-4 ft. x 3-4 ft.
- Mountain West US
The largest of our Buckwheats, Lacy Buckwheat is an amazing fall bloomer. It forms large domes of finely divided woody branches that are covered with tiny white flowers Sep-Oct. Stunning! Supports honeybees and native bees. Prefers sandy/gravely soils and will tolerate poor soils. More information here.
Eriogonum elatum
- Tall Woolly Buckwheat
- 5
- Sun
- 36" x 18"
- Idaho
An amazingly statuesque Buckwheat! Add elegant structure to your xeric flower garden with this native beauty! Off-white flowers top the long stalks in mid-summer.
Eriogonum flavum
- Alpine Golden Bucklwheat
- 3, 4
- Sun
- 3" x 6'
- Idaho
A compact high elevation Idaho buckwheat with narrow leaves and charming yellow flowers.
Eriogonum heracleoides
- Whorled, Wyeth or Creamy Buckwheat
- 3
- Sun
- 12-18 in. x 12-18 in.
- Idaho
Whorled Buckwheat has leathery leaves which form a basal mat sending up brilliant white, cream color pom-poms in early summer. Likes well-drained soil. Boise foothills native. Pollinators: butterflies, bees.
Eriogonum jamesii
- James’ Wild Buckwheat
- 4
- Sun
- 5-6 in. x 20 in.
- Mountain West US
This Buckwheat forms large, dense mats covered with cream-colored to yellow flowers. It blooms during the heat of mid-summer when many other Buckwheats are done. Supports native bees.
Eriogonum kennedyi
- Kennedy's Buckwheat
- 5
- Sun
- 1" & spreading
- CA
Dense, flat clusters of tiny, woolly, gray-green leaves sending up spikes of airy white flowers in late summer. This gorgeous little Buckwheat is native to the Sierra and Western Great Basin of California. Lovely in a rock garden.
Eriogonum ovalifolium
- Cushion Buckwheat
- 3-4
- Sun
- 8" x 12-24"
- Idaho
This Buckwheat features white pom-pom like flowers over expanding tuffets on tight gray-green leaves. Choice!
Eriogonum racemosum
- Redroot Buckwheat
- 4
- Sun
- 16" x 10"
- Southwest
This striking buckwheat bears long racemes of white or white/pink flowers atop tall, leafless stems. In its native habitat of low foothills and mountain dry meadows from New Mexico to Nevada, it can grow in colonies of hundreds or thousands. Supports native bees.
Eriogonum sp.
- Dwarf Sulfur Buckwheat
- 4-5 (?)
- Sun
- 3" x 10"
- Western U.S.
This beautiful little plant appears to be a variety of Sulfur Buckwheat. Its sculpted leaves and diminutive shrubby form make it an outstanding rock garden plant. Blooms earlier than our regular Sulfur Buckwheat.
Eriogonum strictum
- Strict Buckwheat
- 5
- Sun
- 18 in. x 24 in.
- Idaho
Strict Buckwheat has gorgeous sprays of pinkish-white flowers that glow in the late summer/early autumn garden. Supports native bees and is a late season nectar source for honeybees. Boise foothills native. More information here.
Eriogonum umbellatum
- Sulfur Buckwheat
- 3
- Sun
- 12" x 18"
- Idaho
Sulfur Buckwheat is arguably the best all-around landscape plant native to S. Idaho. Bright yellow flower heads rise over a mat of spoon-shaped leaves and mature into a lovely copper color over the summer. The basal leaves turn reddish-green in the fall and are attractive all winter long. Boise foothills native. Pollinators: butterflies, bees. Firewise.
The two plants shown above are versions of Lacy Buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum), a beautiful, large Utah native. Both will cover themselves with small white flowers in the fall, but one will bloom earlier than the other. These two plants offer a great example of something I see all the time: genetic variability in native plants. […]
Driving up to Bogus Basin recently, I noticed the beautiful clumps of Strict Buckwheat scattered along the roadside. Strict Buckwheat always blooms this time of year in the lower foothills, but I was particularly impressed by its ability to put on a dazzling show despite the blazing heat of the past summer. Strict Buckwheat is […]