Carried by 11 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Tricolor gilia (Gilia tricolor) is an annual with a long blooming period. Starting in spring, each plant produces hundreds of half-inch white flowers with blue or lavender edges. Though small, these flowers look very pretty when massed. They grow on upright stems, about 18 inches tall, surrounded by soft, lacy foliage.
This plant is very easy to grow. It takes full sun, low water and tolerates many different types of soil including clay. It can be planted from seed and re-seeds itself the next spring reliably, and is very attractive to native bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Tricolor gilia is also known as bird's-eyes, bird's-eyes gilia. If you sow related but different types of gilia together they will hybridize.
Annual herb
4 - 14 in Tall
6 in Wide
Blue, Lavender, White
Summer, Spring
Full Sun
Low
Moderate
Tolerates cold to -5° F
Fast, Medium, Slow
Tolerates a variety of soils including clay.
Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0
By seed
Valleys, hills, and open meadows or grasslands
Foothill Woodland, Valley Grassland
It is best used in a meadow-like setting with other annuals, herbaceous perennials and geophytes, including Mariposa Lily (Calochortus spp.), Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta), Clarkia spp., Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla), Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa), Lupine (Lupinus spp.), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), Wind Poppy (Papaver heterphyllum), and Penstemon spp.
Butterflies and moths supported
0 confirmed and 4 likely