Sisyrinchium bellum

Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum is a 1 foot tall perennial with 1 inch blue flowers in Jan.-June. It is widely distributed in California on open, grassy slopes, Redwood forests. Blue Eyed Grass has small, iris-like leaves.  It likes full sun and garden water. It also can become very drought tolerant and tolerate full sun everywhere. It grows in sand to clay, coastal bluffs to interior grasslands.  In dry full sun in the interior it will go summer deciduous early.

Some of it's varied associated plants include: Adenostoma fasciculatum; Arctostaphylos glauca; Armeria maritima; Artemisia dracunculus; Artemisia tridentata; Elymus triticoides; Eriogonum fasciculatum; Eriogonum latifolium; Gaultheria shallon; Horkelia cuneata, Muhlenbergia rigens; Oxalis oregona; Rhus integrifolia; Sidalcea, and  Solidago confinis;  (with probably 100's of others). In other words it grows just about everywhere in California  but the full desert. It has been found in the desert washes, coastal bluffs, and up to 10,000+ft.. There is one spot east of here that gets 8 inches of rainfall each year and blue-eyed grass is doing fine. Cold tolerant to at least 0 as it will go winter dormant in bad years. We planted these in reflected sun in Taft with once per week or so water and they grew to 2 feet tall with 20 or so flowers at a time covering them for months.

In a native garden Blue Eyed Grass can grow most spots but it's a small perennial so use it amongst rocks, or with other small perennials like Eriogonum grande rubescens , Penstemon 'Margarita BOP',and Zauschneria 'Bert's Bluff', Erigeron 'Wayne Roderick' and Festuca idahoensis.