# Phacelia Tanacetifolia



## Luterra

I too have considered planting large patches (only about 1/8 acre in my case) of Phacelia. A local honey connoisseur warned me that it would impart a dominant flavor in the honey - not necessarily unpleasant but definitely noticeable. So until I find some Phacelia honey and decide if I like it, I'm going to hold out on planting.


----------



## Mr. C

I tried to plant half an acre, as a wildflower mix (mostly Phacelia with a little bit of other stuff thrown in). It was a complete bust because I didn't prep the ground well enough, it was easily choked out by the competition as it grew slow here. I'm not sure what you could use as a nurse crop for it, but I put 10lbs on half an acre (of just Phacelia) you would think I would have gotten a better result, oh well. In any case Wildseed farms has the best price I found on it. It came up first, but it didn't help it at all.


----------



## Walliebee

This Phacelia is a "sweet" soil plant, meaning that it needs alkaline soils to grow well. A post in another thread by Summer1052 said "Last year, I planted a wildflower mix that included purple tansy. It was covered with bees. And, it survived the worst drought in Texas' recorded history, and bloomed for almost 3 months without water, and in our ungodly hot summer! 

This year, I bought three pounds of tansy seed and planted it in early January. (It would need to be planted in the late fall in climes north of mine.) It is already coming up strongly, but no blooms yet. It has strong taproots, and does a great job breaking up the soil, as I understand it."

As she says, you need to get it planted early, as it needs cool weather and short daylenghts to get established, then it will flower heavily for quite some time.


----------



## lcl

Thank you for your posts. I ordered the seeds today and will give you an update in a few months to let you know how things went...


----------



## Nantom670

Here is what I found on one site about it:

About Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) It is an annual
Height: Up to 3 ft.
Flower Color: Light blue to purple
Plant Type: Annual. Lives just one year. Grows quickly, blooms heavily, dies with first frost. Can regrow following spring if seed falls on bare ground.
Flower Type: Spike of clustered tiny flowers
Bloom Time: Mid season
Is this wildflower invasive? In some re
Is this wildflower endangered? No
Is this wildflower edible? No
Is this wildflower medicinal? No

What is Lacy Phacelia's native range?
Indigenous To: Southwestern US
Where Lacy Phacelia is naturalized or can be grown
Regions: Native to desert areas, but can be grown successfully in all regions.
Zones: 3-10
States: 
How to grow Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
Soil preference: Like all desert species, prefers gritty, fast-draining conditions.
Sun/Shade: Needs full sun.
Moisture Requirements: Adaptable to even arid conditions.
Instructions: This desert species is very easy to grow, some would say too easy. It is lovely in a meadow, but can sometimes become "weedy", so use it sparingly. Give it desert-like hot conditions.


----------



## summer1052

It's also called purple tansy. I planted a great deal of it an an acre wildflower plot last year. The bees LOVED it, and it bloomed for three solid months in the midst of the hottest/driest year in TX history. 

I've planted more for this year.

Good luck!
*Summer*


----------



## PatBeek

I planted a long row of lacy phacelia in my garden.....lol......after hearing some of you say you planted acres of it, I feel rather lacking. 

I also planted sunflowers, borage, zinnias and bright lights (cosmos). This is all amongst my food crops. It's all coming up great. I even had to stratify the borage in the fridge for about a month.

A few weeks ago, the honeybees were all over the tangerine blooms in my yard.

So yes, even subdivisions can be bee-friendly. We're trying !!!!


----------



## Bigtwin

Summer and lcl, did you plant Phacelia this past spring? How did it turn out?


----------



## Joseph Clemens

Back in the early 1960's I lived in a rural location in Los Alamos, California. It was a large property, about 100 acres. It had been developed into a mobile home park, but initially was a walnut orchard. The walnuts were still there, adjacent to mobile homes. One year, the landlord decided to plant _Phacelia tanacetifolia _around the perimeter of the property and between the walnut trees. I estimate it covered between 40 and 50 acres, perhaps more. Once the Winter rains arrived, it sprouted and grew rapidly. Once it was in bloom it had intense interest for honey bees and other nectar loving insects. I spent lots of time watching this activity, but I was 8 or 9 years old, and had some beekeeping equipment, but wouldn't get my first bees until I was 10.


----------



## lcl

I am sorry to report that my Phacelia experiment was a total failure...  

Several factor came into play. 
1) I missed the planting window by a couple of days and then had to wait more than a month for the rain to stop and the soil to be ready for planting. 
2) The person that did the planting had some rudimentary equipment and I do not believe the seeds were planted at the optimal sowing depth of 1/16". 
3) Less than a quarter of the seeds sprouted and just before they were ready to bloom, something (deer?!) eat the buds...

The plan for the next year is to plant early, fence that patch of land and hire a professional to do the sowing.

If anyone is interested, I bought the seeds from Wild Seeds Farm: http://shop.wildseedfarms.com/Purple-Tansy_Lacy-Phacelia/productinfo/3334/

lcl


----------



## Joseph Clemens

This fiddleneck desert wildflower is also a good one for honey bee forage, and a native in the arid Southwestern U.S.A.


----------



## Biermann

Hello,

I just noticed this old thread. I have grown (produced) phacelia tanacetifolia for some years and have seed of it.

Phacelia is a 'dark germer', it means it has to be covered by some dirt (not to much since the seed is very small) to germ. It requires probably the least moisture of all cultivated plants. It reacts well to a little N (~20-40 lbs/acre) and flowers for a long time.

We either seed it with a drill, ~1/2" or top spread it and harrow it in.

Our ph is 7.5 - 8.0 and I have not seen any problems in our fields.

I have just started bee keeping, because I noticed the enormous amounts of bees in it and want bees for pollination of other crops and my garden strawberries. 

Cheers, Joerg


----------



## KQ6AR

I spread a pound of seed around our farm last fall. What came up is in bloom right now, there are bumble bees & honey bees working it.
Will plant more next fall.


----------



## keith841

I see this is an old thread and not sure anyone is still looking at it,but I just bought a pound of phacelia today. I'm going to till up about a half acre and spread it,then drag a fence or something over it try and cover it with dirt. The owner of Oregrow in Oregon says the birds will eat most of it if it's not covered. Then I'll set some hives there when it comes up.


----------



## beepro

Welcome to Bee Source, keith841!

So what are other companion plants that will go well
with the purple tansy? How about some spider plants and sainfoin?


----------



## Bigtwin

I have some seed....wondering if spring planting is ok or should it be planted only in the fall....


----------



## beepro

I have read that they are frost sensitive so have
to plant them in the Spring time for a summer harvest.
We need every nectar and pollen producing plants possible to
get through our yearly summer dearth. So I think your Spring
planting should be fine.


----------



## Kuro

Last year, I sow them on 3/19 (USDA Hardiness Zone 8) and they were in full bloom in June. Bumble bees loved them, but my honeybees ignored them and went to blackberries. Somebody wrote in BeeSource that he mixed phacelia and buckwheat seeds and sow every month during spring/summer. This year I’ll sow the mix in April, May, and June to see if they bloom well during dearth.


----------



## beepro

How large an area do you plant them?
Bees prefer the bigger patch. And will go
for their favorites before taking what is available close by.
Guess in a dearth they have no choice if nothing is out there.


----------



## Dave Burrup

Based on this forum I planted a patch phacelia this spring. It mostly bloomed out now. Mostly honey bees on it are rare, but bumblebees and other solitary bees on thick as lice on it. I wonder why some find it so attractive to honey bees.


----------



## Kuro

Last year honey bees showed no interest in them. This year, I sowed them a bit later in early April. Just a small patch in my yard. They are mostly gone now, but attracted lots of honey bees (plus lots of bumbles) from mid June to mid July. I guess it is because blackberry flowers ended early this year.


----------

