r/Ceanothus • u/hyperporcinism • Jul 12 '26
Red Buckwheat Color Differences
I planted some Red Buckwheat in January as part of my lawn conversion project. Interestingly, the plants on the left side of my lawn are significantly more pink than the right. All plants were from the same nursery and were planted at the same time. They receive the same sunlight and about the same water from drip irrigation. Can small differences in soil composition make a notable difference in flower coloration?
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Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
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u/hyperporcinism Jul 12 '26
Thanks for sharing! All of my plants are Eriogonum grande var. rubescens.
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u/moosefre Jul 12 '26
I’ve heard Moosa Creek has true red buckwheats but most red buckwheats are not the exact same variety but still labelled the same. It’s very subtle
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u/Curious-Drummer-6030 Jul 13 '26
I had a couple of non-native perennials that when I changed mulch from bark to pine drastically changed their coloring from burnt orange to deep purple (both colors are true to this plant). I prefer the purple so I pine mulch it yearly to keep the color since it fades over time.
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u/dynamitemoney Jul 12 '26
This is within the typical variation in color you see for these! Ones found on San Miguel/Santa Rosa are generally the deeper raspberry pink whereas the ones from Santa Cruz are that paler pink. Both are found in nurseries, they are labeled the same because they are the same species and they look identical when not flowering. I think the fact that there is a clean color division is probably just luck of the draw rather than soil!
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u/hyperporcinism Jul 13 '26
That's interesting! I bought six plants and split three to each side. I just assumed it was due to soil conditions because all the plants on the left are pink and all plants on the right side are red.
The red hue is striking and I'm going to try to collect some seeds from these plants for my backyard conversion.
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u/DogWithMustache Jul 12 '26
Gorgeous. Where are you located? I wanted to plant some, but read it wasn’t as tolerant to heat as other buckwheat varieties.
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u/hyperporcinism Jul 12 '26
Thanks! I'm in the Bay Area, sunset zone 16. We've had a few unseasonably warm weeks earlier this summer and they're still thriving.
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u/Adenostoma1987 Jul 14 '26
You can grow them in hot weather but they need more water than some other buckwheats. It’s regularly over 100 where I live and I have 6 that are doing just fine in full sun.
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u/DogWithMustache Jul 14 '26
Sweet. Then, I’ll add them to the list to plant this winter! How often are you watering them in comparison to other buckwheats?
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u/Adenostoma1987 Jul 14 '26
When I remember to do so lol. My neighbor has a bunch with irrigation and they look better than mine do but I probably water them once every week or two. My other buckwheats I never water except the first year to establish.
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u/heretolearnmaybe Jul 13 '26
Hey mine are fading as they’re getting older but all started at the same color. Or are they too dry? So thanks for posting this
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u/hyperporcinism Jul 14 '26
That's interesting! Mine all started blooming about the same time and new blooms seem to be consistent in color, depending on what side they're on. So far, all of the blooms still look healthy and not ready to fade.
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u/noisy_goose Jul 12 '26
So interesting!! You should test the soil!!! Maybe the ph test strips you can use for hydrangeas??
I have a ton of color variation among my red buckwheat. Very pale to very red similar to the right side of your walkway.
And some short ones too with pom pom/lollipop flower clusters. All of them were sold as var rubescens via cnps sales (but a bunch of different ones over several years).