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Tricolor Gilia
Gilia tricolor
  
About Tricolor Gilia (Gilia tricolor) 13 Nurseries Carry This Plant Gilia tricolor (Bird's-eyes, Bird's-eyes Gilia) is an annual wildflower in the Polemniaceae (Phlox) family. It 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. Individual flowers are very 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. A closely related species is Gilia capitata (Bluehead 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.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Annual herb

Size
Size
0.33 - 1.2 ft tall
.5 ft wide

Flower Color
Flower Color
Blue, Lavender, White

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 4 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Kodiosoma fulvum Image
Kodiosoma fulvumKodiosoma fulvum
*
Yermoia glaucina Image
Yermoia glaucinaYermoia glaucina
*
Adela singulella Image
Adela singulellaAdela singulella

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to -5° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Tolerates a variety of soils including clay. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Common uses
Common uses
Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
It is best used in a meadow-like setting with other annuals, herbaceous perennials and geophytes, including Mariposa Lily (Calochortus sp.), Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta), Clarkia sp., Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla), Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa), Lupine (Lupinus sp.), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), Wind Poppy (Papaver heterphyllum), and Penstemon sp.

Propagation
Propagation?
By seed

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Valleys, hills, and open meadows or grasslands

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 4.4" - 83.6", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 2.35", Coldest Month: 29.6" - 61.4", Hottest Month: 50.4" - 88.8", Humidity: 0.29" - 42.79", Elevation: 4" - 8995"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Bird's Eyes, Bird's-eye Gilia


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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