The light brown seeds of the Chocolate Flower barely hint at the blossoms that wait inside. These little dried pods hold the promise of a deliciously fragrant flower that smells good enough to eat.
A member of the sunflower family, Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata) is a Southwest native known for its fragrant, yellow daisy-like flowers.
Gardeners who love chocolate will find plenty to love about this plant, too. It’s a hardy perennial that grows in full sun and likes dry, well-drained soil. It blooms from May to September.
These xeric characteristics led to its selection as a Plant Select winner in 2004. The Chocolate Flower, sometimes called chocolate-scented daisy, is recommended for planting in gardens below 8,000 feet, according to Plant Select information.
The Chocolate Flower goes well in any water-wise landscape design or perennial flower bed. It can also be used as an accent plant or grown in containers.
One of the best uses of Chocolate Flower is as an edging plant along a walkway or close to a patio seating area to take full advantage of its early morning signature fragrance.
“It really is fragrant in the mornings,” says Shalene Hiller, horticulturist with the City of Westminster. “We have it planted inside the Heritage Golf Course where the golf path goes under a tunnel. When you come out the other side, there’s an incredible smell of chocolate.”
Hiller also grows the flowers in the Plant Select demonstration garden at the golf course and in her home landscape in Golden.
Although the Chocolate Flower isn’t a long-lived perennial, it re-seeds quite well. Because Chocolate Flower attracts beneficial insects and butterflies to the garden, plant in groups of three to five so there’s plenty of nectar to go around.
The plant grows 12-15 inches tall and when in bloom will drop its petals each day. The remaining seed pods can be used for dried flower arrangements or other craft projects.
