A very low-water California native for Hesperia, Victorville and Apple Valley, if you buy the desert form.
Get a Free Planting PlanCalifornia buckwheat grows very well in the High Desert if you plant the right form of it. The SB County Guide to High Desert Landscaping says it takes heat and wind and wants well-drained soil, but warns that some buckwheats sold in nurseries come from the coast and may not handle High Desert heat and cold. Ask for inland or desert-sourced plants (often labeled var. polifolium), give them full sun and almost no summer water, and they will carry themselves.
Top photo: Photo: Jim Morefield, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Shrub · Eriogonum fasciculatum · Also called Eriogonum Fasciculatum, Interior California Buckwheat, Mojave Desert Buckwheat · California native; the interior form (var. polifolium) grows wild in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts
| California Buckwheat at a glance in the High Desert | |
|---|---|
| Type and size at maturity | Low, mounding shrub. The interior (desert) form grows 2 to 3 ft tall and 3 to 4 ft wide [4] |
| Growth rate | Moderate to slow for the interior form, which grows slower than the coastal form [4] |
| Water once established | Very low (WUCOLS IV, Region 5: VL) [2] |
| Sun | Full sun [3] |
| Cold hardiness | Interior form to -20F (Calscape). The species as a whole is listed to only 15F, so where the plant was sourced matters [4] |
| Heat | Takes High Desert heat [1] |
| Wind | Takes wind [1] |
| Soil | Must drain well; coarse soil such as decomposed granite is ideal [4] |
| Bloom | White to pinkish flower clusters, late spring into fall [1] |
| Pets | California buckwheat is not listed by the ASPCA; check with your vet. The ASPCA lists a close relative, wild buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum), as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses [5] |
| Wildlife | Visited by about 260 native bee species and 105 butterfly species; host plant for 63 butterfly and moth species [3] |
| Rabbits and deer | Listed as deer resistant [3] |
| Where it fits | Rock gardens, slopes and natural desert plantings [1] |
This is the most important thing on the page. California buckwheat grows wild from the coast to the desert, and the plants are not all the same. The SB County Guide to High Desert Landscaping, prepared with UC Cooperative Extension, calls California buckwheat hardy and says it takes heat and wind, then adds a warning: some other commonly available buckwheats “are of coastal origin and may not tolerate the High Desert heat and cold.”
Calscape, the California Native Plant Society’s plant database, backs this up with numbers. It lists the species overall as tolerating cold to 15F. The interior form, Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium, is listed to -20F and described as both more heat tolerant and more cold tolerant than other varieties. Calscape says it grows in desert transition zones, the high desert and Joshua tree woodland, at elevations from 200 to 7,500 feet.
Victor Valley winters average 15 to 20F on the coldest nights (zone 8b), with records near 0F. A coastal plant rated to 15F is a gamble here. An interior plant rated to -20F is not.
Calscape says the interior form prefers coarse, well-drained soil such as decomposed granite with fast drainage. Sandy High Desert soil suits it. What hurts it is water that sits: a clay pocket, a low spot where runoff collects, or a caliche layer a foot down that keeps the root zone wet. Break through any hardpan in the planting hole or set the plant on a low mound. The High Desert soils guide shows how to find and deal with caliche.
Plant in fall or in spring after the last frost (Victorville’s median last freeze is about March 18). Fall planting lets roots settle in before summer. Skip compost and fertilizer in the hole; native soil is what this plant expects.
Full sun is a must. In a rockscape, buckwheat fills the gaps between boulders and on dry banks where little else holds on. Calscape lists bank stabilization among its uses, and the SB County guide suggests it for rock gardens and as a naturalizer next to native surroundings. Space plants so the mounds just touch at mature width, about 3 to 4 feet apart for the interior form.
WUCOLS IV rates California buckwheat Very Low for Region 5, the High and Intermediate Desert. That is the lowest water category WUCOLS uses. Calscape says to water no more than once a month in summer after establishment, and to avoid direct summer water on the interior form once it is settled.
The first year is different. University of Arizona’s Care of Desert-Adapted Plants says desert plants need supplemental irrigation for at least one growing season to establish, and that deep, less frequent watering builds the deep roots that carry a plant through drought. With only about 5.57 inches of rain a year in Victorville, plan on drip through the first summer.
If buckwheat shares a drip zone with thirstier plants, cap its emitter or move it to a low-water zone. The High Desert irrigation guide covers zoning drip by plant water use.
Buckwheat is a native, low-water filler, not a formal shrub. It looks best in natural plantings with rock, gravel and other desert plants. Calscape lists brittlebush, sagebrush, sage, yucca and cactus among its companions.
After bloom the flower heads turn rust brown. Some people like the look through winter; others trim them off. The SB County guide says to prune back after flowering, and Calscape notes it can take hard pruning. For more plant ideas that share its water needs, see the best drought-tolerant plants for the High Desert and the xeriscaping guide.
Plant after the last frost. Water new plants through spring wind. Established plants usually need nothing.
Main bloom season. Established plants get no more than monthly summer water (Calscape); first-year plants need regular deep drip.
Best planting window. Prune back after flowering (SB County guide), or leave the rust-colored seed heads for winter interest.
Interior forms are rated to -20F and need no protection. Water only in long dry spells, and only for first-year plants.
Yes. WUCOLS rates it Very Low water for the High and Intermediate Desert, the lowest category. It needs regular water only in its first year.
Calscape lists the interior form (var. polifolium) to -20F, but the species as a whole to only 15F. In the High Desert, ask for inland or desert-sourced plants.
It is not listed by the ASPCA, so check with your vet. The ASPCA does list a close relative, wild buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum), as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses.
Calscape describes the interior form as moderate to slow, and slower than the coastal form. Expect it to fill out over two or three seasons.
Fall is best, or spring after the last frost. Plant in well-drained soil in full sun and water through the first summer.
We checked every number on this page against the public sources below. If a rule or date changes, the agency page is the final word.
Monarch designs and installs rockscape, drip irrigation and drought-tolerant plantings across the High Desert. We will check sun, wind and soil on your lot and tell you where a plant will do well and where it will struggle.
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