Gilia tricolor, Birds-eye Gilia

This annual is a terrific addition to a wildflower bed, a meadow, the edge of a border or in a container where it can be admired. It is usually under a foot high, and the lndividual flowers are small but look great when massed. It is a very attractive, easy-to-grow wildflower with a long blooming season, which accounts for its popularity in the garden. Because it is an annual, it will die after blooming and setting seed, but it re-seeds itself reliably. For more bloom give it full sun and moderate water. It also does well in part shade. Bees love it.

Gilia tricolor is widely cultivated around the world and is frequently included in wildflower seed mixes that are sold in many places. In the wild, it is endemic to California where it grows in the Central Valley and surrounding mountain ranges and foothills, with major populations around the Bay Area.

A closely related species is Gilia capitata (Globe Gilia), and there are a large number of other species and varieties; Don’t sow different Gilias together unless you are okay with getting hybrid offspring.