Elegant clarkia is a great addition to your drought-tolerant California garden. It’s also known as “Farewell-To-Spring” because its flowers start to bloom when spring flowers fade. The blooms are in the purple family, range from amethyst to magenta and are a delight to the eyes.
Jewel Tones in Your Garden
Clarkia produces a rainbow of purple flowers from late spring until the end of June. Up close, individual plants almost resemble gladioli. From a distance, a hedge of clarkias is a mass of every shade of purple. Some flowers are even blushing shades of pink.
If you have lavender in your drought-resistant garden, clarkia is a good complementary choice. Clarkia adds bright pops of color that enhance lavender’s dusty grayish shade of purple.
A Standout Beauty
Clarkia is a great choice for hedges or lining walkways or fences. Elegant clarkia grows to over three feet in height. Unlike some of the taller flowering plants, clarkia stands up well with no assistance. One dramatic way to utilize it in your garden is to create a defined bed of nothing but clarkia.
A winding path lined with clarkia is a pleasant way for your guests to find their way to your door or patio. Many people plant clarkia around their birdbaths. The large flowers are attractive to all pollinators, especially hummingbirds. The one-inch deep blooms make it easy for hummingbirds to reach the nectar. We recommend clarkia to clients specifically interested in creating bird and butterfly gardens.
You can also bring the beauty of clarkia into your home. It’s one of the best flowers to cut and, when placed in a simple tall vase, looks like it came straight from the florist.
Water and Sun Requirements
Elegant clarkia is a fast grower and tolerates full sun or partial shade. Partial shade is advisable since the wild plant grows in woodlands under pines and oaks. Clarkia grows best in soil that is a mixture of sand and clay.
Clarkia is one of the easiest drought-tolerant plants you can select for your garden. Its water requirement is so low that we advise no water during the summer.
Caring for Clarkia
Clarkia will produce many seedlings. Don’t thin out seedlings. Clarkia produces the most abundant blooms as part of a stand of many plants. Weeding isn’t necessary.
Clarkia can be planted in fall or after the last frost in areas prone to cold winters. Contact us today so that you can have clarkia in your garden next spring.
Things to Remember:
• Clarkia needs very little water
• It attracts hummingbirds and bees
• It requires no special care