Lacy Phacelia

Phacelia tanacetifolia | annual | cool season cover crop

Winter sown Lacy Phacelia began blooming in late April. Left to self sow, it germinated in December.

Lacy Phacelia. Last spring I called her Felicia just for kicks 😆 A cover crop that also works as a cut, this is the easiest seed to scatter in the fall/winter for a cool season weed suppressor and/or soil builder. It’s technically an annual herb in the Borage family, but I didn’t detect any herby smell. They get about three feet tall before blooming in early May, so awesome stem length if using as a cut (or leave the flowers for your pollinators!). Hover flies also love them (and they eat aphids, woot woot!) You can use also use them as a weed suppressor in open/unplanted areas and terminate before flowering, they are easing to clip or stomp down when their stems are softer. Once they got going I couldn’t keep up with the cutting, so I let them go to seed and stomped them down for a few weeks to smother the weeds that were growing under them. I now have a nice reseeded cover crop right where I had let them lay awhile - man I love free plants haha! Jennie Love of the No Till Flowers Podcast always recommends this one as her go to cool season cover crop, and I couldn’t agree more!

I got my seeds at American Meadows but they are widely available.