Native buckwheats buzz with activity and come in a range of colors and sizes, so you could have an interesting garden with only buckwheats. After all, you have around 500 varieties and cultivars to choose from!
The plants generally have a mounding form, the sizes of the most common varieties ranging from foot-wide cushions to imposing 7 ft. tall shrubs. Whitish and grayish leaf colors predominate, though a range of greens also occurs, often with leaf edges outlined in silvery white and felted undersides. Flower colors run the gamut from white to pinkish white (often aging to russet tones) to deep pinks, reds, and yellows. Leaf shapes can be needlelike, like rosemary, but are more often cupped ovals ranging from a fraction of an inch to 3 inches long.
But you'll need to choose other plants to get sagey aromas, blue flowers, spring blooms, and plants that tolerate overspray or regular watering.
In the wild, many other natives grow with buckwheats. Here are some natives that like the same conditions as buckwheats and grow well with them. Pete Veilleux, whose East Bay Wilds Native Plant Nursery stocks a dazzling variety of buckwheats, offered these recommendations at a recent talk sponsored by the Gardening with Natives group of the California Native Plant Society.
Woolly blue curls likes the same dry conditions as buckwheats and offers a delightful leaf fragrance, blue-purple flowers, and a long bloom time. Foothill penstemons also contribute blue-purple to the palette.
Wayne Roderick seaside daisy, a drought-tolerant variety, is an easy-to-grow plant whose lavender flowers complement many varieties of native buckwheats.
Conejo buckwheat, with yellow flowers and soft white velvety leaves, pairs well with fluffy mounds of Mendocino reed grass. [calamagrostis foliosa]
In a hot, dry garden, use buckwheats with [ericameria arborescens] Golden Fleece and other goldenbushes.
The large-scale St. Catherine's Lace looks good with the tall, red-flowered Catalina cultivar of California fuchsia.
The pompom flowers of rosy buckwheat combine nicely with the silvery leaves of Canyon Prince wildrye, and with native grasses in general. Deergrass makes a nice background for a variety of native buckwheats.
You can plant low-growing manzanita or ceanothus varieties with buckwheats next to them or growing up through them. The sturdier stems of the groundcovers keep the more brittle buckwheat stems from being broken by passers-by. Anchor Bay ceanothus, for instance, is a neat-looking, deer-tolerant groundcover. Bert Johnson manzanita is a choice groundcover with dense foliage that stays a foot tall.
Low-growing natives such as prostrate coyote brush or Canyon Gray coastal sage can also protect buckwheats in a mixed planting and provide an attractive contrast.
The silvery foliage of David's Choice sandhill sage blends well with many of the smaller buckwheats and its feathery texture contrasts with the leaf shapes of buckwheats.
Prostrate coastal goldenbush [Isocoma menziesii sedoides] grows with coast buckwheat in the wild and flowers at the same time.
The silvery color and feathery texture of David's Choice sandhill sage combine well with many of the buckwheats.
The deep pink to red pompoms of rosy buckwheat contrast with the green leaves, which reverse to white. Adding textures with airy grasses or feathery David's Choice sandhill sage can enhance its impact in the garden.
Sulfur buckwheat attracts many pollinators and adds a cheerful splash of bright yellow to the garden all summer. For dramatic contrast, grow it with blue-flowered penstemons or Wayne Roderick seaside daisy.
Wayne Roderick seaside daisy is a more drought tolerant variety than the seaside daisy, so it pairs well with buckwheats. Its lavender flowers and low growth habit make it easy to use with low buckwheats as a contrast and with taller buckwheats for foreground interest.
© 2014 Tanya Kucak