What is Partridge Pea Plant?

Your Complete Guide to Partridge Pea

Partridge Pea flowers are one of the best pollinator attractants you can plant in your garden. It's a native wildflower that's easy to grow and beautifully attractive.

Partridge Pea Characteristics

These plants are precious to wildlife and bright and inviting to the eye. They attract at least three species of butterflies, attract bees and attract birds who eat the seeds in the late fall. The butterflies you will see on your Partridge Pea plants are orange and bright yellow for a great scene at any time they bloom.

Beauty in the Garden

This annual plant has beautiful dark green fern-like leaves that are topped with bright yellow flowers throughout the summer and fall. The flowers are about 1 inch in diameter and are plentiful, with five petals per flower. The center of the flower boasts about ten reddish-purple stems. The leaves of this plant close when you touch them, winning them a nickname or common name of "touch me not." The stems also have a lot of interest in their coloring, as they are light green when the seeds sprout, and then as they age, the stems turn red and brown.

Partridge Peas as Annuals

When you hear a plant or flower is an annual, it will last one season and then die back in the winter months, and the same plant will not resprout in the spring. These beauties are annual because the same plants don't resprout but drop seedpods after the flowers are spent to reseed themselves for the following year. When the seed pods open, they twist violently in a corkscrew manner and toss the seeds one to five feet away.

How to Grow Partridge Peas in Your Garden

To start your flower garden indoors from seeds, fill a container with moist potting soil and plant the scarified seeds only about 1/2 inch deep. Place your container in an area to get morning sun and afternoon shade while keeping the soil moist until the seeds germinate. Germination takes a few weeks after the temperatures have warmed. After the second set of leaves emerges, you can transplant your plants into your garden after the last threat of frost.

Note: You may direct seed your plants 1/2 inch deep in your garden in the spring when all threats of frost are over.

These flowers require full sunlight of about 6 hours per day and well-drained soil, although they will tolerate partial shade of about 6 hours per day. Your plants will grow to about two feet tall, although some may be shorter. Some of the best uses are for a butterfly and pollinator garden or border plants. Companion plants are any flower or shrub with the same sun and water requirements.