(Heliotropium curassavicum)

A fascinating plant native to much of the continental U.S. It has green to blue-grey slightly fleshy leaves, and uncurling spirals of small white star-shaped flowers that emerge with lime to yellow centers that mature to purple.

Like many other plants in the borage or forget-me-not family (Boraginaceae), salt heliotrope is popular with pollinators and has beautiful scorpioid cymes.

The planting stock for the plants we grow was collected at a high watermark beach at Lake Powell in southern Utah. It has beautiful succulent blue-grey-green foliage with purplish stem tips, and the entire plant turns a striking purple/blue as it dies back to the base in the fall.

This plant is a vigorous grower and will spread underground especially if not grown very dry. We recommend this plant for high salt, alkaline, poor soils, sandy soils, drought, flooding and sun tolerance. This is also a great plant for a hot patio pot, low maintenance roadside strips, rain gardens, ditches, dry section of yard, xeriscape plantings, and areas that get a lot of salt run off from icy roads. This plant can become weedy in the wrong spot but perfect under the right conditions.

Though often associated with wetlands, lakes, and seashores, this strain has shown significant drought tolerance both from its collection site and in later observed plantings.

We have had success starting these seeds with bottom heat, but they will likely germinate at room temperature or outdoors when soil has warmed in late spring.

Our plantings of western sea-purslane and salt heliotrope were constantly visited by Western pygmy blue butterflies (Brephidium exilis) during the summer months (pictured on the western sea-purslane page). They are one of the smallest butterflies in the world and the smallest in North America. These beautiful little butterflies have wings with powdery blue and fawn-colored tops and silvery, spotted undersides with live in alkaline areas like salt marshes and deserts and use many amaranth family (Amaranthaceae) plants like saltbush (Atriplex sp) and others as host plants for their caterpillars.

Packet: 200 seeds