There is a flower that grows well in the Southwest that smells like chocolate. The Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata) casts its rich scent throughout your garden. Be sure to plant it where you can bend over and take a whiff on those occasional days with no breeze. It’s an easy plant to grow and care for.
No wonder chocolate flower is easy to grow in New Mexico; it is native to dry plains and hills of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Kansas. It grows best in elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 feet, so Berlanderia thrives in high deserts and intermountain areas like mine. Chocolate flower is a perennial in zones 4 through 9.
Because it’s native, and probably because it looks and smells so great, chocolate flower attracts butterflies, bees and birds. And deer leave it alone! Need more reasons to grow chocolate flower? It reseeds naturally, but not aggressively, so one plant can turn into a few or more, depending on lots of conditions and where you plant the first one. Another great feature of this native is that it will reseed more naturally if planted near rocks or gravel mulch. The rocks “trap” the seeds when they blow in the wind.
Chocolate Flower Care
You can plant chocolate flower in nearly any type of soil, but it will do best if the soil drains well. Be sure to place it where it will receive plenty of sun – up to all day – and where its mature height (about a foot to 15 inches tall, and up to two feet wide) will work without overcrowding. Give it a little more water the first year, and then chocolate flower should grow and bloom with mostly rain only. Each spring, trim off dead flower stalks and some of the foliage if necessary to keep the plant base about three inches high.
It can be hard to tell the difference between spent blooms and the new ones for deadheading. Unopened blossoms have a pretty green and papery look. The circled one in the image above is a spent, dried up bloom for deadheading or seed collection.
Deadheading, or removing spent blooms, keeps Berlanderia blooming.
It’s a good thing chocolate flower can spread, because you can’t move it. The plant has a tap root (which helps its drought tolerance) that doesn’t survive division or transplanting. Otherwise, chocolate flower is a perfect, sunny perennial for a xeric garden.
Chocolate Flower Information
Chocolate flower is in the daisy family, a relative of the sunflower and others, so it makes a nice cutting flower as part of an arrangement. You can bring that soft chocolate scent inside! The flower buds look like a sage green paper flower. Its growth habit is bright and colorful but just wild enough to fit in a natural looking, xeric landscape. Leave some of the drying flower heads on your chocolate flower at the end of the season if you want it to reseed in your garden. Then watch in spring. If conditions are right, you might see a few new crowns of chocolate flower with the distinctive leaf pattern.
- SKU:
- chocolateflower
Container Sizes
Please Note: The pictures below are to give a general representation of the different container sizes. The actual size/ages of plants are estimates and will vary based on; type of plant, time of year, last pruning & many other factors.
4.5" Pot
Also Known As:
4.5" Container
Plant Age:
~ 6 months
Plant Size:
~ 3"-6"
Pot Size:
~ 4.5"H x 3.75"W
Volume:
1.42 quarts
Quart Pot
Also Known As:
Quart
Plant Age:
~ 6 months - 1 year
Plant Size:
~ 4"-8"
Pot Size:
~ 4.75"H x 4.5"W
Volume:
1.50 quarts
2.5 Quart
Also Known As:
2.5 Quart Pot
Plant Age:
~ 1 - 2 years old
Plant Size:
~ 8"-12"
Pot Size:
~ 6.5"H x 6.5"W
Volume:
2.20-2.30 quarts
#1 Pot
Also Known As:
#1 Container
1 Gallon
Plant Age:
~ 1 - 2 years old
Plant Size:
~ 10"-14"
Pot Size:
~ 7"H x 7.75"W
Volume:
2.26-3.73 quarts
#2 Pot
Also Known As:
#2 Container
2 Gallon
Plant Age:
~ 1.5 - 3 years old
Plant Size:
~ 12"-18"
Pot Size:
~ 9.5"H x 9.5"W
Volume:
1.19-1.76 gallons
#3 Pot
Also Known As:
#3 Container
3 Gallon
Plant Age:
~ 2 - 4 years old
Plant Size:
~ 12"-30"
Pot Size:
~9.5"H x 11"W
Volume:
2.32-2.76 gallons
For more detailed information, please click here.
Plant Addicts Guarantee (Included On All Plant Orders)
Plant Addicts always guarantees your plant(s) will arrive happy & healthy. However, plant(s) are being shipped through the mail & sometimes accidents happen. If the plant is dead, has dried out roots or the incorrect item was shipped, just notify Plant Addicts within 3 days upon delivery. We may ask for pictures but will try to make it as easy as possible for you. Please note, plant(s) with damaged branches or wilted leaves will not qualify for this guarantee. Plants are very resilient and will rebound quickly when cared for correctly.
For more information on how to care for your new plants, please click on our guide below.
Guide: How to Care for Your New Plant(s)
Plant Addicts Warranty - 1 Year (Extra Purchase Required)
We encourage all plant lovers to purchase the Plant Addicts Warranty, whether you're a new gardener or an expert. There are many variables outside of anyone's control that can cause a plant to die. Hungry animals, drought, poor soil conditions, over watering, diseases & pests are all good examples of what can cause plants to die. The Plant Addicts Warranty is a 1 year warranty protecting you from all of the unknowns and will replace your plant if something were to happen to it.
The warranty is purchased on a per plant basis and must be purchased at the same time as the plant(s). We will cover 100% of the price of the plant, but the warranty does not cover shipping costs. SImply let us know if your plant has died within 1 year of receiving it and we will get you a new one shipped out as soon as possible (depending on the time of the year and availability). We may ask for photos for documentation purposes, but we try to make the process as easy as possible.
For more information, please click on our page below.
Plant Shipping
Below are some factors we consider when determining when to ship the plants depending on the timing of the order.
Winter to Early Spring
We ship only when it's warm enough to plant in your growing zone.
Sometimes plants aren't completely ready to sell and ship in early spring. We will wait until the plants are ready before shipping so you don't get a subpar product.
For Southern plants we will be able to ship much earlier than plants coming from our northern nursery.
Summer
If there is extreme heat we may delay shipping for a week or several weeks.
We review what areas the plants are traveling through as well as your location.
Fall into Winter
We’ll ship plants out all the way up to the end of the fall planting season!
Winter
Get your order in early to reserve your plants for Spring planting!
Once your plant is shipped you’ll receive an automated email with tracking information.
Click here for more detailed shipping information.
Planter Shipping
Standard Colors: 2-3 business days
Special Order Colors: 8 weeks - this is due to the planter being custom made with the color(s) of your choice
Please Note: On special orders there can not be any cancellations