Blue Mountain Prairie Clover Seeds (Dalea ornata)

This plant is a quiet remnant of a landscape left behind. Tapping deep into the soil like an old memory, this native legume of the Inland West is a beacon to dryland prairie bees and butterflies, It’s built for long time frames, for seasons that become centuries, standing against time itself, against cheatgrass, erosion, and fire in places where nothing else seems to stay put for long.

Blue Mountain Prairie Clover asks for nothing. Its taproot dives deep, like a desperate memory in search of wetter times. Rising to almost 2-feet in height, with cylindrical magenta flower spikes from blue-green stems encircled by ornate and delicate leaflets. This is mostly a plant species of the high desert, sage-brush steppe, throughout the Columbia Plateau, Great Basin, Eastern Oregon, Nevada, and California. Within this range it is somewhat uncommon and scattered. We think this species is probably adaptable in a lot of locations West of the Rockies, but it strongly prefers quite dry conditions. (It may even have green roof potential).

Blue Mountain Prairie Clover is a caterpillar host for Reakirt’s Blue (Echinargus isola), and probably a number of other butterflies. It is avidly visited by bumble bees, various longhorn bees, leafcutter bees, and carder bees. And, it strongly benefits from seed scarification to enhance germination.

Try companion planting with Lewis flax and blanketflower in tough dry sites. Blue Mountain Prairie Clover also makes an unexpectedly interesting bedding and container plant for gardeners across the greater West (yes, it is that showy!).

50+ Seeds (0.2 grams).