Category: Buckwheat
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Buckwheat Builds Soil
California buckwheat is an evergreen plant with small leaves that occasionally drop to the ground, forming a natural mulch. The fallen leaves enrich the soil around the plant and allow the plant to grow and spread in its own loamy mulch. If you are an Orange County homeowner who hasn’t picked up your free ‘Dana…
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Birds, Bees and Buckwheat
The California Native Plant Society Orange County (OCCNPS) chapter created A Buckwheat in Every Garden to encourage homeowners to plant California native plants in their home landscape– which in turn supports and increases bird populations. My neighbor recently sent this photo of a swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on the leaves of her kumquat tree. She had…
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Buckwheat Brings a Party
One hundred and fifty ‘Dana Point’ California buckwheats found new homes in Orange County. The first outreach event at Acorn Day at O’Neill Regional Park and the second outreach at Smartscape were very popular, attracting many gardeners eager to install a native California buckwheat in their home landscapes. The Orange County chapter of the California…
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Buckwheat Brings Buckeyes
Autumn has arrived and the creamy white buckwheat flowers are beginning to take on their rich, russet brown color. Can you see the common Buckeye butterfly visiting the buckwheat in the image above? Several native plant gardeners have shared photos of the common Buckeye butterfly visiting buckwheat plants in their home landscapes recently. Doug Tallamy,…
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Buckwheat Builds Habitat
The Orange County chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS) has begun to distribute free, four-inch California buckwheat plants to homeowners living in Orange County. OCCNPS hopes to improve habitat for wildlife and butterflies throughout Orange County with this first-ever campaign to distribute 1,500 buckwheats to homeowners who pledge to plant them in their…
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Buckwheat in Bloom
According to the California Native Plant Society’s Calscape.org, there are 251 varieties of buckwheat (Eriogonum) native to California! You can go to Calscape.org and see for yourself all of the beautiful buckwheat varieties that grow in the state. Three different varieties of buckwheat are growing in my home garden currently, and I am looking forward to adding…
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Simple Ways to Make Your Garden Good for Butterflies
Bringing local wild land plants into your garden will increase the number of butterflies inhabiting your airspace. For residents in Southern California, gardening with native California plants can be unfamiliar. Most homeowners appreciate the ease of shopping at their neighborhood Home Depot Garden Center, Lowes, and True Value for plants. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find…
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California Buckwheat is a Pollinator Magnet
The Orange County chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS) will be giving a free four-inch California buckwheat plant to local residents this October to introduce homeowners to the beauty of California native plants in the garden. Why buckwheat? According to the native plant experts at Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano,…
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More Butterflies in Your Garden
Southern California is home to people and plants from around the world. Plants from far away lands have been introduced in California and have become so common that many people believe that most ornamental plants are native. Examples of introduced species include Eucalyptus trees from Australia, ice plant from Africa, and bougainvillea from Brazil. These…