2011-04-30

Is Devon Skies Blue-eyed Grass native?

 Maybe.  Probably not.

That's completely unhelpful, so I'll try to elaborate.  I'm not a plant professional, so I'll welcome corrections.

Right off the bat, the 'Devon Skies' part of the name indicates a selection or hybrid.

A little Googleing says that Blue-eyed grass 'Devon Skies' is in the genus Sisyrinchium, which is promising since many species of Sysyrinchium are native to western states.  All are new world, but Sisyrinchium from midwest states or the east are not unheard of. I wasn't able to find a species name, suggesting that it's a hybrid.  If I'd found something like "Sysrinchium bellum 'Devon Skies'" then the bellum part of the name would indicate a species native to California and I'd know this was a native plant selection.

A little more Googleing finds this blurb on Plantlust.com

"Super in the rock garden or front of the border. (It's sterile too!) We just learned that S. 'Devon Skies' was found in Edmund and Rita Heaton's UK garden (the National Collection Holders for Sisyrinchium)."  Ahh. So that's why it's Devon Skies and not Lake County Skies. 

This all suggests that its parents are not known and in a Sisyrinchium collection of national significance I would think the parents could be from anywhere.  So that's why I say maybe.  But the real answer is probably not.

If you really want a native, I'd buy one of the species known to be California natives.  There's many, though in my neck of the woods the optimum time to plant and grow these has passed for this year.  Sisyrinchium bellum (blue eyed grass, western blue eyed grass) is widespread in California, so it's probably native near you.  There are dwarf selections if you like cute and compact: my girlfriend picked up one that's fantastically florific right now.  I think it was Sisyrinchium bellum 'Fort Bragg'.



From a question on my native plant list.

1 comment:

  1. A couple seasons ago I grew out a seed packet's worth of the California native. There were lots of subtle variants of color and enthusiasm for life in the mix. I almost wanted to make my own selections of the most manically flowering plants.

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