Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis ssp. consanguinea)
Coyote Bush is one of my favorite native plants. It's evergreen, big (6-15 feet high and 6-8 feet wide), and flowers late Summer- Fall. They make excellent fast growing hedge plants, and will accept pruning very well (which can stimulate new growth). It is veeery popular with pollinators. When this bush flowers you see all of the bugs - bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, etc. It's very popular with song birds as well! Song birds love to hide in the dense cover of Coyote Bush, and because it attracts a ridiculous number of insects it is also an excellent source of natural bird food. This wonderful bush is deer resistant, fire resistant, flood resistant (mine survived 3wks of standing water), and highly drought resistant. Plant your seedlings in the fall and let nature's winter rains do the rest.
Coyote Bush is dioecious, meaning there are both male and female plants. When you find Coyote Bush available for sale in a nursery ~99% of the time the plant will be male (flowers are small, stubby-round little yellowish sorta pill shaped flowers). The female flowers are more elongated/ pointed and white. Later in the season the female flowers will form beautiful fluffy seed heads that adorn the plant through the winter. Both draw the pollinators!
These seeds were responsibly harvested from a population of wild coyote bushes growing on a rocky bank overlooking the Columbia River near Portland, OR. They are tiny and tend to have a static cling effect which makes counting too difficult.
Each packet contains 1/4 teaspoon of seed (roughly 100-150 seeds) and germination instructions are included.
Coyote Bush at a glance
- Ave. growth dimensions - 6-12 ft tall x 8-12 ft wide
- Dormancy - Evergreen
- Plant type - Shrub
- Sun - Sun - part shade
- Water - Medium - very dry
- Flowering time - August - November
- Flower color - White - yellowish white
- Soil preference - Adaptable, as long as soil has good drainage