(Gilia tricolor)

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Bird's Eye is a California native annual flower that can be found growing in grassy plains and slopes. At maturity, this plant reaches a height of 1-2' and features an elegant hairy stem, feather-like leaves, and beautiful tubular five petaled flowers that are pale purple on the edges, followed by a white then deep purple ring, ending in a yellow center that is offset by five light blue stamens. This plant can be grown in containers, it attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, can be used as a cut flower, and it self sows! 

  • General Information
  • Starting Bird's Eye Seeds
  • Crop Care
  • Harvesting
  • Seed Saving
  • Companion Planting
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​Family: Polemoniaceae 

Genus: Gilia 

Species: Gilia tricolor

Cultivar: Bird's Eye

Native to: California

Introduced into: Czechoslovakia

Also known as: Bird's Eyes Gilia

Grown as: Annual

Maturity (Bloom): Spring

Crops: Spring, Summer

Growing Conditions: This plant adapts well to areas with rocky, clay, or sandy soil.

Min Outdoor Soil Temp: 70°F. 

​Start Indoors: Yes

Start Outdoors: Yes

Small Gardens?: Yes

Light: Half Sun/Half Shade

Water: Medium. Keep the soil moist as the seedlings develop.

Containers?: Yes. 

Attracts beneficial insects?: Yes. Extremely attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.

Height: 12-24"

Spacing: 15-18"
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Sow Depth: Press into soil surface.

Produces: finely divided foliage mostly at the base, and sweet scented 1/2” pale purple-edged white flowers with a dark ring around the yellow center.

USDA Grow Zone: 3a-10b

Starting Bird's Eye seeds Indoors for Spring

To start Bird's Eye seeds indoors, mix the seed with moist sand and store it in the refrigerator for 30 days prior to sowing seeds in 2" Soil Blocks or individual peat pots 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Keep the soil lightly moist and at a temperature of 70 degrees F until germination, which usually occurs within two weeks.

Transplanting Bird's Eye Seedlings Outdoors for Spring

​When the weather has warmed and your Bird's Eye seedlings are well established, transplant them outdoors. Bird's Eye adapts well to areas with rocky, clay, or sandy soil.

Starting Your Bird's Eye Seeds Outdoors for Spring

For spring planting, mix the seed with moist sand and store it in the refrigerator for 30 days before direct sowing the seeds outdoors 15-18" apart.

​Starting Your Bird's Eye Seeds Outdoors for Fall

Direct sow your Bird's Eye seeds in late fall, pressing them into the surface of the soil 15-18" apart.
Keep the soil moist as the seedlings develop, which will happen rather slowly at first. Mature plants tolerate drought well, preferring hot and dry conditions; do not overwater, since this can cause disease. This plant will self-sow and is extremely attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
For fresh flowers, cut long stems of flowers that have just opened and place them in water immediately; strip the leaves that will fall below the water.
After blooming, the flowers will become dry capsules that open to reveal several brown seeds; cut the ripened heads or simply shake the entire plant over a container to remove the seeds. Store the cleaned seed in a cool, dry place.

Companion Planting

It is best used in a meadow-like setting with other annuals, herbaceous perennials and geophytes, including Mariposa Lily (Calochortus sp.), Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta), Clarkia sp., Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla), Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa), Lupine (Lupinus sp.), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), Wind Poppy (Papaver heterphyllum), and Penstemon sp.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

Suggested Varieties

(Clarkia pulchella)

$1.00 - $5.60

Deerhorn Clarkia is a native annual flower that can commonly be found growing in rocky forest and grasslands, or in disturbed soils throughout the northwest United States. At maturity, this plant reaches the height of 18” and features a hairy erect stem that has 2-3” lance-shaped leaves alternating around it, and topped with clusters of four divided fuchsia flower petals and a prominent white pistil. This plant can be grown in a container, attracts bees and butterflies, is resistant to deer, self sows, and is great as a cut flower!  
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(Collinsia heterophylla)

$1.00 - $5.60

Chinese Houses is a cool weather annual flower that is native to California but can be found growing in woodlands and grasslands, or on the slopes of foothills throughout Illinois and Kentucky. At maturity, this plant reaches the height of 2' and features narrow pointed leaves and circular tiers of ½-¾” flowers with two white upper petals and two fuchsia lower petals. This plant can be grown in a container, attracts bees and butterflies, self sows, and is great as a cut flower!  
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Lupine: Arroyo (Lupinus succulentus)

$1.00 - $5.60
This wildflower can be found growing throughout the American southwest; it is especially widespread in California, its native state. The name Lupine comes from the Latin “lupus,” meaning wolf. This refers to the folk belief that this plant took nutrients from the soil. Ironically, this plant actually improves the soil because of its nitrogen fixing abilities.
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Lupine: Russell (Lupinus polyphyllus)

$1.00 - $5.60

George Russell, a self-taught horticulturalist from Great Britain, produced this lovely hybrid in the early 1920’s after nearly two decades of cross-breeding and experimentation. On being honored by the Royal Horticultural Society for his achievement, Mr. Russell stated that all the really crucial work had been done by the humble little bees in his garden. The name Lupine comes from the Latin “lupus,” meaning wolf. This refers to the folk belief that this plant took nutrients from the soil. Ironically, this plant actually improves the soil because of its nitrogen fixing abilities.
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Lupine: Sky (Lupinus nanus)

$1.00 - $5.60
This wildflower was first found near the Columbia River and described in 1828 by Scotsman David Douglas, the first botanist to methodically find and classify over 250 plants in the northwestern region of the United States.The name Lupine comes from the Latin “lupus,” meaning wolf. This refers to the folk belief that this plant took nutrients from the soil. Ironically, this plant actually improves the soil because of its nitrogen fixing abilities.
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Penstemon: Palmer's (Penstemon palmeri)

$1.00 - $5.60
This Beardtongue was named after the British botanist Edward Palmer, and is found native to desert mountains from easter Mojave to Utah and in New Mexico. Growing in washes, roadsides, canyon floors, and other similar areas, this plant is a tough, drought and heat resistant species. This wildflower is most notable for it's tall spikes of showy light pink blooms. Favored by bumblebees who like to squeeze themselves into the bulbous throats of the flowers!
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Penstemon: Rocky Mountain (Penstemon strictus)

$1.00 - $5.60

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Hardy, drought tolerant, and stunningly beautiful, what more could you want? Rich indigo blooms tower high on this Beardtongue, and are loved by hummingbirds and bees. Rocky Mountain Penstemon is one of the easiest Beardtongues to grow, and has a long blooming period of about a month in the Spring. A real show stopper!
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Penstemon: Scarlet Queen (Penstemon Hartwegii)

$1.00 - $5.60
A striking, upright plant suitable for sunny wildflower gardens, borders and rock gardens, "Scarlet Queen" penstemon (Penstemon hartwegii "Scarlet Queen") displays tubular-shaped blooms of bright red with white centers all summer long. Native to the western United States, this prairie plant reaches mature heights of 2 to 3 feet. "Scarlet Queen" penstemon is perennial in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9.
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Poppy, California: Carmine King (Eschscholzia californica)

$1.00 - $5.60
These poppies have a habit of opening and closing with the sun, appropriate for their native Golden State. The first member of the California poppy genus was identified in 1816 by German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso on an exploratory voyage to California and the Pacific Northwest. Chamisso named this genus “Eschscholzia” after a fellow botanist, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who accompanied him on the journey. Nearly a dozen species of poppy grow wild in the western United States.
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Poppy, California: Dwarf (Eschscholzia caespitosa)

$1.00 - $5.60
These poppies have a habit of opening and closing with the sun, appropriate for their native Golden State. The first member of the California poppy genus was identified in 1816 by German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso on an exploratory voyage to California and the Pacific Northwest. Chamisso named this genus “Eschscholzia” after a fellow botanist, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who accompanied him on the journey. Nearly a dozen species of poppy grow wild in the western United States. This dwarf species can easily be mistaken for the state flower of California, though it has a small disc at the base of each blossom where the state flower remains smooth.
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Poppy, California: Golden West (Eschscholzia californica)

$1.00 - $5.60
These poppies have a habit of opening and closing with the sun, appropriate for their native Golden State. The first member of the California poppy genus was identified in 1816 by German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso on an exploratory voyage to California and the Pacific Northwest. Chamisso named this genus “Eschscholzia” after a fellow botanist, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who accompanied him on the journey. Nearly a dozen species of poppy grow wild in the western United States.
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Poppy, California: Ivory Castle (Eschscholzia californica)

$1.00 - $5.60
These poppies have a habit of opening and closing with the sun, appropriate for their native Golden State. The first member of the California poppy genus was identified in 1816 by German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso on an exploratory voyage to California and the Pacific Northwest. Chamisso named this genus “Eschscholzia” after a fellow botanist, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who accompanied him on the journey. Nearly a dozen species of poppy grow wild in the western United States.
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