As LA Heats Up, Buckwheat Pulls Out Her Pom-Poms
June 2026. LA never stops blooming! In the transition to summer, one family of blooms seems to cheer us from the sidelines of every freeway. These lovelies perform best when the heat is on, shaking and swaying their pom-pom blooms to keep us in the game. As much as we appreciate their optimism, nectar-thirsty pollinators appreciate them even more!
Think of what’s Blooming Now as LA’s reminder to keep going when the going gets tough. Here are our favorite buckwheats to bring into LA gardens:
Brightest Blooms: Sulphur Buckwheat
No one cheers heat louder than Sulphur Buckwheat. Aptly named, her pom-pom blooms almost glow in the dark! If planted in a shady area, her blooms can appear chartreuse. The more sun she gets, the brighter her blooms.
Pro Tip: Plant her in full sun to enjoy year round evergreen (or ever-silver!) foliage and blooms right when the bees most need them.
Prettiest Foliage: Red Buckwheat
It’s easy to fixate on Red Buckwheat’s pom-pom blooms. How is it they can be light pink one day, and hot pink the next?! They spark smiles when they bounce on the breeze – or with the bee traffic. In the rare months when she drops her blooms, she continues to play into a garden’s beauty and structure. Her off-season uniform is green on top and silver-white on the bottom. When she leads the wave, you’ll see both.
Pro-Tip: Red Buckwheat and White Sage make a great team. Not only do they layer well together, buckwheat’s two-tone foliage makes the silver of White Sage pop.
Pollinator Favorite: California Buckwheat
Most of LA’s wild roadside cheerleaders are California Buckwheats. Once you recognize her, you’ll see her jumping and creating distinctive formations of pom-poms along all our eastside freeways and plenty at the coast too. While she’d likely be delighted to know humans appreciate her call and response, our delight isn’t her main game. She is the sole habitat for the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, and she takes the role seriously. While the Blue’s love only her, they are perfectly happy to share her with bees and other pollinators too.
Pro Tip: Of all the buckwheats, California Buckwheat insists on staying a bit wild. Her foliage has a rosemary like aesthetic and will take the form and color of its blooms. If you are a stickler for structure, she’ll refer you to another family member.
Beyond Pom-Poms: Island Buckwheat and St. Catherine’s Lace
The tallest of the buckwheat sisters enjoy holding court in LA gardens. While they carry no pom-poms, don’t hold that against them! Think of them as the lace-wearing coach who is toughter than most. They adapt their plays throughout the year to keep your garden party evolving through the seasons.
Pro Tip: Plant either or both for seasonal color. Yes, color! What appears white in June will become peach, then salmon, then rust in autumn. Throughout the transition of their blooms, their foliage remains evergreen.
More Blooms
It’s impossible to have too much buckwheat, and we love invite the full family to our gardens. Of course, there are several more native blooms that delight us in June! We share what we see as we see it in our Bloom Stories in Instagram. You can save our in-garden favorites from our Blooming Now Boards in Pinterest or collect ideas in Houzz, where we post our go-to California Native Plants.
Of course, our favorite option is to get outside! To meet these beauties live and in-person join us on tour or visit one of our demonstration gardens.
