Dodecatheon clevelandii

In my view the prettiest! They vary quite a bit in coloring and come in different subspecies, this particular clone has pink petals on top, fading to white toward the "beak", ending first in yellow and finally to velvety maroon. For even more contrast and drama, the "beak" is violet. Like all Shooting Stars, this one likes moist in winter and spring, but on the dry side summer and fall, when they are dormant. They reportedly can be kept all dry in summer - in pots if you like - like summer dormant bulbs. Native throughout California, but mainly S Cal., we're not 100% sure to what zone they're actually hardy. We put zone 7 to be on the safe side, but it could easily be 6. One of the slowest to propagate.

What a rare thing! VERY SELDOM will we ever have this lovely California native, & boy does it take a long time to grow. Our best looking crop took three years to get to blooming size, & even then the plants were slight, but wow! Were they just to die for. A CLAY TOLERANT species, I would be very careful where you plant this hard to find wildflower – it needs to be bone dry in Summer, & it goes completely dormant during this time, but it returns again with the rains. Blooming stems reach 1', with many flowers to a stem – each delicate & enchanting – twisted recurved tepals of mauve to pink, above black, downward pointing stamens. Foliage rests low to the ground in a 4” rosette.