Calochortus Species, Yellow Mariposa Lily

One of my favorite wildflowers! It's called "Kitten's Ears" or "Cat's Ears" colloquially. The plants are very tiny and you don't really n...Read Moreotice them until early spring (around late April, early May around here) when you see tons of yellow flowers, about 1" in diameter.

They grow in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in clay soil and can be found in the oak forested areas of the lower foothills to the pine forested higher elevations. Their natural habitat at my house is toward the top of the oak line and receives heavy rainfall and some periodic snow in winter (periodic lows as low as 15*F, but about 35*F average low, and around 55" rainfall/yr about 99% of that rainfall occurring over the winter months). Then the area receives almost no rainfall from about the beginning of June through the end of October, and summer temperatures often exceed 100*F (daytime average usually in the high 90*F range though) with near zero relative humidity. I would have to say that all of the plants indigenous to this area have to be quite hardy considering these extremes!

Calochortus luteus is from California, found inland from Shasta Co. south to Tulare Co., and in the Coastal Ranges from Mendocino ...Read MoreCo. to Santa Barbara Co., including Santa Cruz Island. It's one of the most common members of the genus, growing from sea level to about 700 meters. The Dutch have selected a particularly floriferous clone and called it "Golden Orb"

C. luteus is a member of Section II. Mariposa, Subsection 5. Venusti (Flowers campanulate and erect; sepals lanceolate obtuse-attenuate; petals obovate to cuneate; nectaries of varying shapes; capsules always erect, three-angled; seeds flattened and set horizontally in the capsule; bulbs with membranous tunics) (Callahan, "The Genus Calochortus" in "Bulbs of North America", Timber Press, 2001)

Like most Calochortus, C. luteus is a winter grower, though it is not very hardy. My "Golden Orbs" have survived temperatures down to -3C in mid-winter, but never for more than a few hours. In areas of heavy frost, a cold frame or greenhouse is recommended, especially for seeds in their first two or three years.

This species is not so particular about soil pH, but it does demand a well-drained soil (I use half grit) and doesn't seem to like too much organic matter mixed in. I lightly fertilize once a month when in growth with either plant ashes (like it gets in the wild after fires) or bonemeal.

Most important of all: this plant needs a dry summer rest!

For Native Californians, the bulb was an important food source. They would set controlled fires in late summer (sound familiar?) to keep taller shrubs in check.