Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum

About Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) 90 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Blue-eyed Grass is a 1 foot tall perennial herb that grows throughout California, usually in open places where there is some moisture, particularly grassy areas. It can also be found in woodlands and at altitudes up to almost 8000 feet. The stems can grow as long as 24 in, though they are often shorter. Its leaves are grassy and tufted. The flowers are small and purplish-blue, varying somewhat in color from a true blue to a definite purple; occasional white-flowering plants are found. It flowers from January to July. After flowering, it dies back to the ground and is dormant over the summer. It prefers some moisture and good drainage, but will tolerate summer dryness. It can be propagated by seed, and self-sows. It can also be propagated by division of its rhizomes, and the flower stems can be rooted. It is moderately hardy and will tolerate temperatures down to 20 degrees F; -12 degrees Celsius.

Blue-eyed Grass is very easy to grow and will easily reseed. Best to plant on flat areas, loamy soils that that hold moisture well. Even though it goes dormant in the summer, in dryer, southern areas, Blue-eyed Grass is more likely to survive the summer drought with occasional watering. It's best to plant this at the edges of landscapes for pops of color.

This plant is on several fire resistant plant lists, including FireSafe Marin and County of San Diego.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Perennial herb

Size

1 - 2 ft tall
3 in wide

Form

Upright Columnar

Growth Rate

Moderate

Dormancy

Summer Semi-Deciduous

Fragrance

None

Flower Color

Blue, Lavender, Purple

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 likely * ) SHOW ALL

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 2x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 90

Ease of Care

Very Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerant of sand and clay. Soil PH: 5 . 0 - 8 . 0

Common uses

Groundcovers, Deer Resistant, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants

Chamise, California Buckwheat, Lemonade Berry, Ponderosa Pine, Box Elder, Bigleaf Maple, Pacific Madrone, Manzanita species, Artemisia species, native grass species, Juncus spp., Allium spp.

Propagation?

Readily self-seeds. For propagating by seed: 1.5 mos. stratification. No treatment for 3-6 yr. old seeds.

Sunset Zones?

3, 4, 5, 6*, 7*, 8, 9*, 10, 11, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Meadows , seasonally moist grasslands , grassy openings in chaparral or coastal sage scrub , understory of Yellow Pine Forest and Foothill Woodland , and on the margins of wetland/riparian areas

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 2.3" - 152.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 5.67", Coldest Month: 20.2" - 61.0", Hottest Month: 45.6" - 90.5", Humidity: 0.09" - 48.67", Elevation: -166" - 10141"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Western Blue-eyed Grass

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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

Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium bellum

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Blue-eyed GrassSisyrinchium bellum

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Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium bellum