This plant is not the buckwheat the flour comes from. Too bad, because I love buckwheat pancakes! This buckwheat is a California native, with the common name of Warriner Lytle. Makes me think of Pop Warner Football. The name, not the plant, which right now is a low-growing bush with long, spindley branches.
Buckwheat earns its keep with lots of flowers, which attract butterflies and bees, while serving as food for several butterfly larvae. Birds and rabbits like to eat the flowers and foliage. I don’t see any rabbits in our garden but we have lots of birds. We do have squirrels – maybe they’ll like it.
Marlene Dotterer 