Phacelia | Species Information (2024)

FAQs

What is phacelia plant used for? ›

Phacelia is a rapidly growing, high biomass plant. It is a nitrogen holder and weed suppressor. Its eye catching purple flowers are particularly good at attracting bees and other beneficial insects. Used as a soil improving green manure.

Like many hardy annuals Phacelia is a cut and come again flower, so you will get armfuls of the beautiful blighters all season long, even from a modest patch.

Growing period:

1-3 months.

If growing as a cut flower, cut them as and when you need to. Bear in mind that phacelia will self seed readily if the flowers are not removed.

Warning: Some Phacelia species produce a skin irritation in sensitive people, similar to that of poison oak or poison ivy.

There are no edible uses listed for Phacelia tanacetifolia.

Lacy phacelia may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed.

Sow in spring onwards as a green manure. Make sure seed is well covered, because phacelia seeds need darkness to germinate.

It thrives in virtually any well-drained, fertile soil. Hardy to minus 28ºC. If sown when the soil has warmed, it should take approximately two months before flowering.

It grows well in any fertile, well-drained soil. A moist, rocky, and sandy soil is ideal. There also isn't any real need to add manure, garden compost, or fertiliser. If the soil is too rich, Phacelia will produce a lot of soft growth but fewer flowers.

Is phacelia an annual plant? ›

This easy-to-grow annual is one of the best pollinator attractors of all. Bees simply love the ample, long-lasting, purple flowers. It is often called Phacelia, Purple Tansy, Scorpion flower, or heliotrope. It is easy to plant and grow Phacelia from seed.

Phacelia has a dense shallow root system that is able to improve soil structure. Narrow leaves and fine stems allow the plant to have low water usage and is quite drought tolerant. It is quite shade tolerant and will stay green well into late fall.

Phacelia grows up to 1m tall and is fast growing which makes it a great cover or green-manure crop. The root system of Phacelia although not particularly extensive has a beneficial effect on soil structure and is useful in breaking up clay soils.

Annual wildflowers will bloom the first year they are sown, so you should see results quickly. They die back in the winter, but before that, they will produce seed which grows into new plants. This cycle can continue indefinitely! Biennial plants won't flower or produce seed until their second year.

Care: The green manure should be cut down before flowering when the stems are nice and soft as they decompose quicker, retain more beneficial nutrients and are easier to incorporate into the soil.

Phacelia has beautiful scented purple/blue flowers with dense fern-like foliage. It smothers weeds and has an extensive root system that improves the soil structure. It flowers from 6-8 weeks after sowing.

Most commonly grown green cover crops are suitable for grazing by livestock, though some, like Phacelia are not particularly palatable.

The lacy phacelia flower is a 1 to 3 foot (0.5-1 m.), leggy wildflower with a bloom that looks similar to a thistle. It is a heavy nectar producer. An attractive addition to the ornamental bed, you might want to plant some of the purple tansy wildflowers to attract pollinators.

No one is likely to get rich off harvesting phacelias, however, as the plants only contained 21 parts per billion of gold (though this was significantly higher than the background amount of 1.6 ppb in the soil). The genus Phacelia contains more than 150 species and is restricted to North and South America.

This plant is a great one for bees and so easy to grow in really rough ground. I am generally all about planting perennials for bees so that you have a guaranteed sources of nectar and pollen every year but there are a few annual crops which cannot be ignored for their bee-value. Phacelia is one of them.

How long does Lacy Phacelia bloom? ›

Phacelia generally starts to bloom approximately sixty days from gemination, and will flower once the days are long. It requires about thirteen hours of daylight to begin flowering. Once it starts to bloom it will continue for an extended period of time, often for a four to six week period.

Frost tolerant

Phacelia will survive mild frosts to overwinter and bloom in spring.

On the other hand, all phacelia species like regular "spring rain" moisture if they can get it, provided they're not left sitting in puddles. At 8"-20" tall and wide, it's a petite, gracefully-mounding plant. P.

How often to water your Lacy Phacelia. Lacy Phacelia needs 0.8 cups of water every 9 days when it doesn't get direct sunlight and is potted in a 5.0" pot. Use our water calculator to personalize watering recommendations to your environment or download Greg for more advanced recommendations for all of your plants.

Sow and Plant

Sow phacelia in spring while the soil is still cool. Make sure seed is well covered, because phacelia seeds need darkness to germinate. Broadcast seed into cultivated soil so that the seeds are about 2 inches (5 cm) apart and one-fourth inch (0.5 cm) deep.

As a cover crop it should be sown early in the autumn and dug in before it flowers while stems are still green and soft, usually in late winter or early spring if it isn't frosted (it frosts at about -7°C).

A hardy annual, native to California but has naturalized throughout the western United States.

Seed Saving: After the plant begins to turn brown, the Lacy Phacelia seeds will begin to ripen on the stem. Gather the seeds as soon as they have turned brown; watch them carefully to prevent loss, since Lacy Phacelia seeds can easily drop. Store Phacelia Tanacetifolia seeds in a cool, dry place.

Petunias are perennial, although most bedding types are grown as annuals from seed each year. The trailing varieties, such as Surfinias, are perennial and are grown from cuttings or new plants.

Lacy Phacelia is well known for its ability to attract bees and butterflies to an area. It is a heavy nectar producer and is listed in the top 20 pollen-producing flowers for honeybees.

Is phacelia a nitrogen fixer? ›

Phacelia is a nitrogen-fixing legume. Nodules on the roots are the site of a symbiotic relationship between plant and soil micro organisms. These take nitrogen from the air and turn it into a form the plant can absorb.

Unfortunately, you can't just throw wildflower seeds on grass, as the soil needs to be prepared before planting. It is best to remove as much grass as possible from the lawn before putting wildflower seeds down. To give your seeds a good start, it is better to plant them in early spring or fall.

Sowing at the right time will allow the seeds the best seasonal climate conditions to germinate well. In most zones, wildflower seed sowing season is in the fall, from mid-September to late November is best.

The 1/3 rule involves cutting about 1/3 of wood during any pruning activity. This moderate pruning practice is a balanced approach to thinning out shrubs to stimulate new growth. The plant loses a good amount of stems, usually on the top section, allowing more light and air to enter the inside of the plant.

Generally, the best time to prune or trim trees and shrubs is during the winter months. From November through March, most trees are dormant which makes it the ideal time for the following reasons: Trees are less susceptible to insects or disease.

There is no need to cut back hardy geraniums, heucheras, hellebores, dianthus and moss phlox. Tidy them in the spring as needed.