Phacelia tanacetifolia – Lacy Phacelia
- Description
Soft, scrolled spikes of lavender-blue flowers rise above ferny, silvery-green foliage — a genuinely beautiful annual that just happens to be one of the most useful plants you can grow. Phacelia is a top-tier bee fodder (yielding 300–700 kg of honey per hectare), an excellent green manure that fixes nitrogen and enriches tired soil, and a fast-growing cover crop that smothers weeds. Beauty and function in equal measure.
One of the easiest plants you can grow. Sow seeds 1–1.5 cm deep, either broadcast across an area for a meadow effect or in rows spaced 15–25 cm apart. Two main sowing windows: early spring (March–April) for late spring and early summer flowers, or autumn (September) for an early-flowering crop the following year. Phacelia is fast — flowers can appear just 6–8 weeks after sowing, so successive sowings every 3–4 weeks through spring give a continuous bloom from May into autumn. Adapts to almost any soil, drought-tolerant once established, and naturally disease-resistant.
A genuine multitasker. As a green manure, dig the plants in before they set seed to add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil — fantastic for preparing beds for hungry vegetable crops the following season. As a cover crop, its dense growth smothers weeds and protects bare soil from winter erosion. And for beekeepers, it's gold: phacelia ranks among the top three honey-yielding plants in the world. Sow generously in any unused corner and let the bees do the rest.
Guaranteed fresh.
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