PURPLE CRAZYPEA

Oxytropis lambertii

Legume Family (Leguminosae)

This plant is much more appealing than its name would suggest, featuring large, magenta pea blossoms in spikes over slender, silvery-green foliage. It is a tough, drought-hardy plant that can persist for many years with little or no added water, yet it can handle ordinary garden soils and some summer watering. It is a tidy plant that keeps its compact form even in fertile soils and under somewhat wetter conditions. In form, it resembles a slender, silvery version of Utah sweetvetch. Purple crazypea is very widely distributed in the Great Plains, but enters our area only in the Colorado Plateau region. It can be used in dry perennial beds and rock garden settings, but it is not very competitive in meadow mixes. It combines well with sundancer daisy, thickleaf penstemon, and silver buckwheat. It has little tendency to seed itself and is quite appropriate for more formal settings.