I have grown a crop of Phacelia as a green manure but wanted to see what it looked like when in flower although you are supposed to dig it in before flowering. The bees love it and when I was out strimming off the flowers for digging in later, there were loads of bees all over the flowers. Was quite a shame to have to cut them down although a did leave a small colony standing at one end of the bed.
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Similar experience with phacelia around my french beans. Lots of lovely bees.
I planned to dig it in, bet decided to let it be to assist in pollination. And anyway, I couldn't be bothered it was too hot!
It looks very pretty. Where do you get the seeds from ? And can you buy small quantities ?? WOuld like to give it a go.
I bought mine from the organic gardening catelogue. You get quite a lot but can only use a bit if you wish
i couldn't dig mine in before flowering either!!! i love bees.
i got mine from the organic gardening catalogue too.
It's a close relation of a garden flower, but can I remember which one...?
Phacelia - Hydrophyllaceae - is a genus of hardy annuals, biennials and perennials. They come in a range of sizes from a few inches to over 2 ft, in various shades of blue.
All make excellent garden displays.
The cheapest place that I have found for the seed is Kings 99p (plus £1 postage) for enough for 25 sq m - http://www.kingsseeds.com (you need to press "advanced search" and enter "phacelia"
If you leave it to flower early in the season, it will produce seed for the following year (and a bit of self seeding but it is easily removed - if you don't like it where it is)
Mine always gets questions about "where did I get the nice blue flowers from?"
and it is great for the insects
Phil
Phacelia is a good plant to boost the mycorrhiza (friendly fungi) in the soil and a good way to transfer the benefits to the roots of established plants. I'm using 160 cell plug trays for growing Phacelia. A little rootgrow mycorrhiza fungi is added to the compost and again when the Phacelia is transplanted. I like sowing and planting more than I like digging and hoeing so I grow Phacelia.
It's fast growing
A green manure or mulch
It has nice fern like foliage
The bees love it when it's in flower
The blue flowers are quite pretty
You can sow it all year long (Mar-Sept)
It does not need to be considered in crop rotation
It's hardy and a late sowing will overwinter
Weeds can't compete if you give it a head start
Thanks Ed - have just added it to my list of green manures.