How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Berlandiera Lyrata

Berlandiera lyrata, also known as a chocolate flower, lyreleaf greeneyes, or chocolate daisy, is a beautiful daisy-like yellow flower with a chocolate odor when it blooms. Native to North America, specifically the southwest United States and Mexico, this flower prefers dry sandy loams and rocky limestone soils. This makes it an excellent choice for rock gardens or a native wildflower meadow recreation in your pollinator garden. 

Once established, this native perennial is tolerant of drought, and will reward you by attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden. Keep lyreleaf greeneyes well watered during its first year of growth; after that, it will survive on very little extra water. 

This leafy plant has many short branches at its base, leading to leafless stalks topped by flower heads. Blooming yellow rays surround a maroon central disk, which will turn green as the flower fades and eventually hold the seed for the next generation of flowers. 

Not only is this flower easy to grow, but it’s also easy to propagate by collecting seed from the spent flower head. The flowers bloom profusely throughout the late spring and up until the first hard frost in fall. In areas with mild climates and warm weather for most of the season, they can have a year-round bloom time. 

In areas that receive a frost the plant will die back and come back to life in the spring. You can leave the last round of flowers with yellow rays standing to serve as a snack for birds who love to feast on their seeds. 

What is Berlandiera Lyrata?

Chocolate flower, the Berlandiera lyrata common name, is a beautiful daisy-like flower to add to your garden. The genus name honors Jean-Louis Berlandier, a French-Swiss physician who collected plants in northern Mexico and Texas in the early 1800s. 

Native Area

Berlandiera lyrata common names also include: chocolate daisy, lyreleaf greeneyes, and green eyed lyre leaf. The scientific name, therefore, honors Jean Louis Berlandier, and the common name honors the leaf shape and scent of the plant. In its native habitat, it can be found growing in parts of the Southwestern United States including Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Its habitat even stretches into parts of Northern Mexico.

Characteristics

These perennial flowers will come back year after year, making them a great long-term investment for establishing a pollinator garden. As the name chocolate daisy suggests, they resemble daisies with yellow rays surrounding a central disk. Most notably, they are called chocolate because they smell like chocolate when they bloom! 

Berlandiera lyrata flower petals are edible and are said to have a bitter chocolatey flavor. Some Native American cultures of Texas, New Mexico, and the American southwest collected plants, and these daisies were used by them to alleviate stomach issues. The dried roots were burned to inspire courage. Aside from their odor, the main benefit of adding them to your garden is to provide habitat and food for pollinators. 

Attracting pollinators to your garden has many benefits including predatory insects that will feed on pests. Bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds are attracted to them. Since they bloom throughout the season, they provide a food source, while other sources may be scarce like during the early spring and late fall.  

Planting

Choose a location with full sun and well-draining soil, before planting Berlandiera lyrata. Prepare the soil by loosening it and mixing in some compost. Sow the seeds directly in the garden after the last frost, pressing them lightly into the soil without covering them deeply, as they require light to germinate. Water the area gently and keep it moist until the seeds sprout, usually within 10-14 days.

How to Grow

This North American native, low-maintenance pollinator plant is a stunner in any garden or landscape. If you’re interested in adding these flowers to your garden, then read on to learn how to properly care for Berlandiera lyrata. 

Light

Berlandiera lyrata thrives in full sun, though it will tolerate light shade. To meet the full sun requirements, choose a planting site in your garden that receives at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily. In hotter climates, sun from early to mid-morning is best.

Water

As with most outdoor plants, it’s best to water in the mid-morning or late afternoon, anytime outside of the heat of the day. This will ensure that more moisture soaks into the ground rather than being lost to evaporation. You’ll want to keep Berlandiera lyrata regularly watered throughout its first growing season. 

Once a daisy is established it is extremely drought-tolerant. Overwatering or poorly draining soils can cause it to become leggy. It’s better to let them dry out between waterings rather than risk watering them too much. Once they are fully established (three seasons after planting) they can be watered as little as once every one to two weeks in the height of summer and as little as once every two to four weeks in the spring and fall. 

Drip irrigation emitters are a great low-maintenance way to water your plants. In addition to their drought tolerance, they also prefer hot and dry weather. This makes sense considering their native range runs through the southwest including states like Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. 

Soil

Another benefit of growing Berlandiera lyrata is that they can be planted in a variety of soil types. They are native to dry sandy loams and rocky limestone soils, making them great for rock gardens and areas with dry soil. They actually prefer what is usually considered to be poor-quality soil and struggle with rich soil that has been amended. 

The only caveat is that they must be planted in well-drained soils. As mentioned above, wet soils can cause this perennial to become leggy and flop over. Because of its drought-tolerant nature, they prefer dry soil with very little water. Since it prefers rocky soils over wet soils you can mulch around your daisies with gravel or small rocks to encourage reseeding. 

Temperature

They prefer warm weather, with their ideal temperature range between 70-75°F (21-24°C). Though they can also survive the heat of the summer in full sun, blooms may be limited during times of intense heat. In these areas, shield them from hard, afternoon sun and ensure they receive morning sun. In full shade conditions, they will not bloom their yellow rays, and after all, we’re growing this daisy for its fragrant flowers with a lovely chocolate scent! 

These daisies can be reliably grown in USDA zones 4-10. The daisy seeds germinate more readily when they go through a period of cold stratification. For this reason Berlandiera lyrata usually does best in areas with a cold winter. However, it can also be grown in frost-free areas where it will bloom year-round. 

These flowers are frost-hardy, but eventually, growth will slow, and flowers will bloom, go to seed, and die back. Leave the last round of flower heads to provide food for birds over the winter. In the spring, cut back the plant to six inches before new growth appears. 

Fertilizing

So many plants in the garden can benefit from supplemental fertilizers, organic matter, or compost. That being said, Berlandiera lyrata is not one of them. They are very light feeders and fertilizing isn’t necessary. In fact, rich garden soil can have the opposite effect as it can hold onto too much moisture which these flowers do not like. 

This is great news for those who are looking to add to their low-maintenance, low-water, wildflower meadow pollinator garden. Barely requires water? No fertilizer required? Flowers profusely? Attracts butterflies and other pollinators? Chocolate odor? Sign me up! 

Maintenance

This daisy can benefit from regular pruning. Deadheading the spent flowers will encourage even more flowers. Simply remove the flower head at its base. At the end of the season, the green cup-like bracts will be full of seeds. Berlandiera lyrata can be left standing in the garden to provide birds with seed throughout the winter. 

In the very early spring or late winter, cut back to within six inches of the ground, before late spring growth appears. In mild climates and frost-free areas, the flowers will continue blooming year-round and will only require deadheading. 

Propagation

As mentioned above, as the flowers fade the petals close flowers will be replaced by green cup-like bracts. This green eye is why these flowers are sometimes referred to as lyre leaf green eyes or green eyes lyre leaf. This green disc shape will eventually be filled with seeds. 

At the end of the season, the cup-like seedheads can be easily collected if you’d like to encourage even more flowers to grow next season, or you can allow them to bloom year-round in milder climates. Propagation via seed for Berlandiera lyrata is the best method. These seeds do not require cold stratification, however, it has been said to increase their germination rate. 

They can be started indoors, but do not like being transplanted so it’s best to sow them at the planting site, directly in the garden. Sprinkle the seeds over the surface and cover them with a light dusting of soil. Keep it evenly moist until seedlings emerge. 

Common Problems

A big draw to growing these flowers is the relatively ease of meeting its growing requirements. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind for the best results. 

Growing Problems

Berlandiera lyrata are relatively trouble-free; however, the most important thing to keep in mind is meeting the water requirements. Once established, it is very drought-tolerant in its native habitat in North America. For this reason, it does not tolerate overly moist soils and can grow tall, spindly, and leggy when it receives too much water. 

Of course, you can’t control the weather outside, so a good countermeasure is to ensure it’s planted in an area with well-drained soil to avoid standing water or overly wet conditions. If your daisy plants begin to grow leggy, they can be pruned back to encourage bushier growth. To avoid overwatering, let the top few inches of soil dry out between waterings. 

Pests

These daisies have no known pest issues! Another win for this amazingly easy-to-grow native pollinator attractor! 

Diseases

Root rot is the main disease that can affect your daisies. The symptoms of root rot will appear as a soft mushy stem, wilting, and of course rotten roots. This type of rot is harder to recover from but can be remedied if there are still fresh, white roots that have not yet turned to mush. 

Reduce the frequency of watering, and let the garden soil dry completely before watering again. A good preventative measure to avoid root rot is by placing it in a very well-drained location. 

Frequently Asked Questions