Gilia capitata - Blue-thimble-flower seeds

Gilia capitata is a very pretty annual plant, little used in our gardens despite its never-ending flowering and propensity to self-seed randomly among other plants in the garden, just like nigellas. It develops elegant, vibrant green foliage, cut like ferns and blooms abundantly in small balls of flowers, most often lavender blue or powder blue, from spring to summer depending on the sowing date and the climate. It is easy to grow in well-drained soil, essential in a flower meadow where it will work well alongside other wild annuals. It is also a very good cut flower.

Gilia capitata is an annual plant from the polemoniaceae family, just like Phlox and Polemonium. It is native to the coastal regions of western Canada, the United States, and Mexico, where it grows in open places, on dry slopes, and in chaparral, a kind of Californian and Mexican scrub vegetation. It therefore requires well-drained, sandy, or even rocky soil and is tolerant to drought. The plant forms a basal tuft and branched stems and reaches an average height of 50cm (20in) and a width of 30cm (12in) of densely leafy stems. The feathery and light foliage is composed of finely cut, vibrant green leaves with toothed leaflets. From April to August, solid, fleshy stems appear, carrying globular inflorescences of 2-3cm (1in) at their ends, containing 50 to 100 tiny blue, slightly fragrant flowers with prominent stamens which attract many pollinating insects. The flowers are followed by numerous seeds that easily germinate.

Gilia capitata is best sown directly in place, it is relatively hardy and tolerates heat and summer drought well as it adapts its vegetative cycle to the climate. In a flower meadow, it can be sown with cosmos, nigellas, California poppies, phacelia, sainfoin, and Buenos Aires verbena, which like the same growing conditions. It works well  in well-drained beds, alongside shrubby salvias, linarias, and grasses such as stipa tenuifolia or Muhlenbergia capillaris. It is a spontaneous flower, with a wild charm, also charming in bouquets.