Lucerne forms a tidy tuft of spiky, dark green, grass-like leaves topped with bright purplish-blue, star-shaped flowers, each with a small yellow eye. Though it looks like a grass, it is actually a member of the iris family.
It blooms most heavily in late spring and early summer and often keeps sending up a few flowers through summer. At about 10 inches tall it makes a charming accent along walkways, in rock gardens and at the front of a border.
What it looks like
Small, flat, six-petaled star-shaped flowers about 3/4 inch across in bright purplish blue, each petal ending in a tiny point, with a small golden yellow eye at the center. Flowers open at the tips of flattened, grass-like stems just above the foliage. Leaves are narrow, stiff, sword-like and dark green, 6 to 10 inches long, rising in a fan-shaped tuft. The plant forms a neat, grassy clump about 10 inches tall and 15 inches wide. At peak it looks like a dark green tuft sprinkled with blue stars.
Growing it with lavender
Blue-eyed grass likes a bit more moisture than lavender, so give it a spot near a walkway, rock garden or border edge that gets regular water rather than planting it in the dry lavender bed itself.
Care
Plant in full sun to part shade in average soil that drains well but does not dry out for long; it appreciates regular water in summer. Hardy in zones 5-8; trim the foliage back after the main bloom if it looks tired, and divide clumps in spring every few years.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Sisyrinchium angustifolium
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Flower color: Purplish blue with a yellow eye
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Foliage: Dark green
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Growth habit: Upright, grass-like clump
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Mature size: 10 in tall × 15 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 5–8
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Late-May
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Peak bloom: Early-June
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Bloom pattern: Repeat Blooming
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
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