Hello, thanks for being here and I hope you can help me. I originally posted this to Botany Photo of the Day. I am trying to identify a plant in my Anaheim, California, work garden that was started by seed. It’s about 18 inches now and grows about four feet high and has woody stems by the end of the year. I don’t think it is geraea canescens but may be related to it.
I can confirm it isn't Geraea canescens, leaves are different. Did you start it from seed or did it spontaneously appear (e.g., via bird seed). Whether it's a California native or not makes a big difference in the number of possibilities.
My former co-worker started this from seed. "90% sure I used a packet from Botanical Interests, either the wildflower mix or butterfly mix." None of these seem to be it. I don't think they are Classic Zinnia, Tidy Tips, Lance-leaved Coriopsis, or Sneezeweed. The leaves are arrowhead-shaped. The reason I say possibly California native is that it's not the most attractive plant, it gets four feet high and across, turns brown, dies, and reseeds itself profusely. We transplanted some of the plants to another area and they didn't grow much versus the ones that reseeded themselves. These are the seed mixes that my co-worker thinks he used: 1. China Aster (A) <5% 2. Bishop's Flower (A) <5% 3. Black-Eyed Susan (P) <5% 4. Borage (A) <5% 5. Calendula (A) 7% 6. Balsam (A) 6% 7. Crimson Clover (A) <5% 8. Lance-leaved Coreopsis (P) <5% 9. Bachelor's Button (A) <5% 10. Cosmos (A) 7% 11. Dill (A) <5% 12. Lemon Mint (A) <5% 13. Mexican Lupine (A) 30% 14. Mexican Sunflower (A) 7% 15. Parsley (B) <5% 16. Pincushion Flower (TP/A) <5% 17. Blazing Star (P) <5% 18. Purple Coneflower (P) <5% 19. Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (A) <5% 20. Snapdragon (TP/A) <5% 21. Sneezeweed (P) <5% 22. Butterfly Milkweed (P) <5% 23. Sweet Sultan (TP/A) <5% 24. Sweet William (TP/A) <5% 25. Tall Verbena (TP/A) <5% 26. Sweet Alyssum (TP/A) <5% or 1. Classic Zinnia (A) 1% 2. California Bluebells (A) 6% 3. Maiden Pinks Mix (P) 1% 4. Calendula Fiesta Gitana (A) 10% 5. Dwarf Godetia (A) 3% 6. Tidy Tips (A) 7% 7. Baby Blue Eyes 11% 8. Virgnia Stock (A) 4% 9. Johnny-Jump-Up (P) 10% 10. Alyssym Carpet of Snow (A) 5% 11. Sweet Mignonette (A) 6% 12. California Poppy Ballerina Mix (TP) 5% 13. Five Spot (A) 23% 14. Baby’s Breath Carmine Rose (A) 7% 15. Linaria Fairy Bouquet (A) 1%
I think I have steered you wrong with my last post. My other co-worker says she thinks we collected these seeds from a school garden that is either drought tolerant or native Californian. Here is a photo of the woody remains of one of the shrubs from last year and the little seedlings growing from seeds we scattered last fall.
