Spotlight On: Giant Paintbrush
Meet the giant paintbrush, aka Castilleja miniata!
Photo credit Thayne Tuason.
This unusual plant features 2-foot flower stalks topped with the famous red or orange blooms, which are actually bracts, a type of leaf; the flowers themselves are smaller, yellow, and tubular.
Giant paintbrush is a fascinating plant because it’s parasitic! Technically a hemiparasite, giant paintbrush can produce some food through photosynthesis, but it needs to take some from host plants, too. It connects its roots with the roots of neighboring plants so it can extract some of the other plants’ nutrients. This trait helps giant paintbrush to survive in a range of conditions, including the dry Southwest, where it can take water as well as food from its neighbors!
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Coreopsis tinctoria var. atkinsoniana growing alongside the Columbia River in Douglas County. Photo credit Thayne Tuason.
We sell our giant paintbrush planted with yarrow, but it can thrive on a variety of host plants. Pick a spot that gets full or partial sun. Soil conditions can range from moist to dry as long as it’s well draining. Paintbrush blooms from May to September and you’ll see lots of hummingbirds when it does! Paintbrush is also an important caterpillar host plant for butterflies. It can be a challenging plant to establish, but it makes a unique and eye-catching addition to your pollinator garden!
Plant giant paintbrush with:
Streambank lupine (Lupinus rivularis)
Slough sedge (Carex obnupta)
Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum)
Big leaf sedge (Carex amplifolia)
It’s a good idea to plant paintbrush and its host plant at the same time, in the same hole. Expose some of the roots of each plant and intertwine them gently as you plant. This will help the paintbrush more easily its connections and become established faster.