Crazy About Locoweed

I remember the family dog, Mandy, coming home after many of her bunny probes acting a little crazy.  We always guessed she had chewed on a little locoweed.  Ingestion can cause livestock and horses to exhibit unusual intoxicated behavior, and some horses can become habituated to it. 

Name aside, the locoweeds are beautiful plants.  I wonder why they aren't grown more often in rock gardens, perennial borders, and prairie plantings.  GrayC, Kevin, and I collected three species in our 2010 travels and they have bloomed heavily this spring.  One of the perils of seed collecting is that you never have the floral characteristics to look at, and mistakes in nomenclature are common.  I've finally sorted these out now that they have flowered.

Oxytropis campestris was the first plant to bloom.  It actually sent up some flower spikes last fall, and bloomed heavily this spring.  the flowers are a pleasant lemon yellow shade that will combine well with spring bulbs, I think.  The calyces are quite hairy, giving the flower spikes a fuzzy appearance that is interesting.

Oxytropis sericea is usually white or light blue.  I had no idea that the seeds we collected in a part of Custer State Park near Blue Bell Lodge would be the rarer light purple-pink form.  It is spicily fragrant, too. 



Oxytropis lambertii is the most variable species, coming in shades of blue, violet, and even cerise.  Our collection from Nebraska is interesting in that the florets start out violet and age to a very attractive shade of blue.  The fragrance is comparable to that of sweet peas.

Of course, we'll have to test these for a longer period of time in a variety of garden situations before passing judgement.