Description

Key Information:

Soil: Mesic (Medium) – Xeric (Dry). Drought tolerant.
Sun: Full Sun – Part Sun
Height: 6-13″
Bloom Color: Red
Bloom Season: April – May

More Details:

Suggested Uses: Prairie Smoke is one of the most highly prized natives! The flowers are a bit inconspicuous at first, but give way to fluffy red seed tassels that give the appearance of smoke. A very nice low-growing ground cover, Prairie Smoke does well on upland sandy and gravelly soils as well as on nice well-drained garden soil.  Also great for use on upland shoreline areas and rock gardens.

Native Range: Native to North American prairies. Native to the West, the Southwest and the Upper Midwest.

Pollinators: Bumble bee queens, including Rusty Patched Bumble Bees (Bombus affinis)! They are an important early food source.

Flowers: The hairy flowers are up to 3/4″ long with 5 lobes, 5 petals and narrow bracts that alternate with the sepals. There are usually 3 flowers per stalk, each on a separate branch.

Leaves: The fern-like basal leaves are 5″-9″ long, divided into toothed, wedge-shaped or oblong leaflets.

Name: Triflorum refers to the flowers that typically grow in sets of three.

Other Names: Old Man’s Whiskers

More information: USDA plant profile