Wright’s Buckwheat

Year-round

Wright's buckwheat is a tough shrub from Southern California's rocky foothill and high desert chaparral, and it needs sharp drainage to succeed in a Los Angeles garden.

• Full sun and fast draining, rocky or sandy soil are non negotiable, a heavy clay bed needs amending or a raised planting area.
• Water sparingly, this plant evolved in dry, rocky foothill sites and resents regular irrigation.
• Small white to pink flower clusters appear on wiry stems through the warm months.
• Works best in a rock garden, dry slope, or low water border rather than a regularly irrigated lawn adjacent bed.
• Avoid rich, amended soil, lean conditions keep it healthy and compact.
• Not on the ASPCA toxic plant list for dogs or cats, it is listed under wild buckwheat.

Its low, wiry, silvery form reads as a deliberate dry garden planting when grouped with rock or gravel mulch, rather than looking neglected.

Fall

Fall is a good time to plant or prune Wright's buckwheat as temperatures cool in the Los Angeles basin.

• Prune off spent flower stalks once blooms fade to keep the plant tidy.
• This is another safe planting window as the weather cools.
• Check drainage before any early season rain, standing water is the main risk.
• A fall planted specimen benefits from one deep watering at planting time, then back off.

Winter

Winter rain provides most of the water Wright's buckwheat needs, and the plant needs little other care through the season.

• No supplemental watering is usually needed once winter rains arrive.
• Make sure the planting site drains well, this plant does not tolerate standing water.
• No frost protection is needed in a typical Los Angeles basin winter.
• Leave dried flower stalks standing through winter, they add structure and feed seed eating birds.

Spring

Spring is the safest window to plant Wright's buckwheat in Los Angeles, before summer heat tests a new root system.

• Plant now into fast draining soil so roots establish before the dry season.
• Keep new plantings on the lean side, skip fertilizer and heavy soil amendments.
• New growth appears as temperatures warm, watch for the first flower buds.
• Space plants two to three feet apart, it stays compact and open rather than dense.

Summer

Wright's buckwheat blooms right through the dry Los Angeles summer and needs very little water to do it.

• This plant is drought adapted, established plants need little to no supplemental water.
• If you do water, a rare deep soak during extreme heat beats frequent light watering.
• Blooms continue into early fall, drawing in bees and other pollinators.
• Overwatering in summer is the most common way to lose this plant to root rot.