Flower Specifications
- Season: Annual
- USDA Zones: 3 - 10
- Height: 12 - 16 inches
- Bloom Season: Mid summer
- Bloom Color: Red
- Environment: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil Type: Well-drained, fertile, pH 6.6 - 7.8
- Foliage Color: Light green
- Notes: All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested
Planting Directions
- Temperature: 65 - 70F
- Average Germ Time: 28 - 42 days
- Light Required: No
- Depth: Cover seeds lightly
- Sowing Rate: 1 - 2 seeds per plant
- Moisture: Keep seeds moist until germination
- Plant Spacing: 9 - 12 inches
- Care & Maintenance: See: Pheasant's Eye
Summer Pheasant's Eye (Adonis Aestivalis) - Use this annual to naturalize a landscape and add some bold color for interest and appeal. Pheasant's Eye has finely cut leaves from 1 - 2 inches long. It is a mid-summer bloomer with small cup-shaped, dark centered red flowers that are 1/2 - 1 inch wide. It grows easily from Pheasant's Eye flower seed, and it prefers fertile well-drained soil in full sun. It is useful for use in wild gardens, on slopes and mixed borders. It can grow in a light woodland area.
This red flowering plant is used for medicinal and ornamental purposes. The plant is a cardiotonic, diuretic and stimulant. The flowers are considered to be diuretic, laxative and lithontripic. It is native to Europe but has been introduced elsewhere, such as the western and eastern parts of the United States. Caution must be used with this plant as it is toxic. Do NOT allow horses to eat the plant.
Directly so Pheasant's Eye flower seed outdoors into weed-free prepared soil. Sowing of the flower seed can either be done as a dormant planting in late fall after several hard frosts. Or, Pheasant's Eye flower seed can be directly sown outdoors in the spring as soil temperatures begin to warm. Pheasant's Eye easily self-sows its own flower seeds, so each season, new plants will emerge. Deadheading the spent flowers will prolong the bloom season for Pheasant's Eye.
