Carried by 55 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
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St. Catherine's lace (Eriogonum giganteum) is large and showy buckwheat endemic to the Channel Islands of California. It flowers densely, in carpets of clustered tiny pinkish white flowers. Young flower heads are white and lacy, gradually turning to warm, reddish brown over the summer. This plant is fast-growing and variable in size, from 2 feet tall and wide to a sprawling or rounded bush over 9 feet high and wide. One variety, the Santa Barbara Island buckwheat, is particularly rare so should not be planted next to wildlands, especially in areas where it can hybridize with natural populations of cross-compatible species of Eriogonum.
In the garden, the plant likes fast-draining, preferably rocky, soil and regular water until it is established. It is clay tolerant when drainage is fast. It grows in full sun and adapts to high inland temperatures but does not do well in frost. Cut back after bloom.
The UC Davis Arboretum named this wildlife-friendly plant one of its "All-Stars" for use in California landscapes. It supports honey bees, native bees, birds and small mammals and hosts a likely total of 12 species of butterfly and moths.
Shrub
2 - 5 ft Tall
4 - 10 ft Wide
Mounding, Rounded
Fast
Evergreen, Winter Semi-deciduous
Cream, Pink, White
Spring, Summer, Fall
Bank stabilization, Deer resistant
Full Sun
Very Low
Max 1x / month once established
Easy
Tolerates cold to 15 - 25° F
Fast
Rocky, gravelly.
Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0
Pinch back rapidly-growing stem tips to increase the plant's density. Deadhead the spent flower stalks. (Remember to harvest mature seeds of some flower heads, if desired.)
Self seeds. Hybridizes with E. arborescens and E. fasciculatum. The hybrid of E. giganteum and E. arborescens is sold as Eriogonum blissianum. For propagating by seed: No treatment.
Dry rocky places as part of coastal sage scrub or chaparral, primarily on the Channel Islands
Chaparral, Coastal Scrub
Trees: Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. asplenifolius), Island Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonii), Island Oak (Quercus tomentella)
Shrubs and herbs: Island Ceanothus (Ceanothus arboreus), California Encelia (Encelia californica), Island Alumroot (Heuchera maxima), Santa Rosa Island Sage (Salvia brandegeei), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), Dudleya species, Yucca species
Butterflies and moths supported
1 confirmed and 12 likely
Avalon Hairstreak
Strymon avalona
Orange Tortrix Moth
Argyrotaenia franciscana
Bramble Hairstreak
Callophrys dumetorum