The Easter Flower

Anemone patens (formerly known as Pulsatilla patens) (pasqueflower, prairie crocus, windflower, Easter flower)            

The pasqueflower is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring. A welcome sight, these cup shaped flowers with their quirky, hairy grey green stems, provide a spot of cheerful colour amidst the drabness left behind following winter’s melt.   The plant (15cm x 10 cm) forms a nice neat clump producing flowers in blue-violet, lilac, yellow and cream.  After two to three weeks, the flowers mature to delightful airy, puffed seed heads which provide more interest in the landscape.

Pasqueflowers prefer a sunny dry area, and appreciate a little peat moss added to the soil. Like many plants they enjoy well drained soil.  These perennials are a nice addition to any rock garden or mixed flowerbed.  Try them at the front of your flowerbed or use them as a border in a perennial garden.  Young growth may be attacked by slugs and snails.        

As the floral emblem of Manitoba and a traditional healing herb for the Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Chippewa peoples, the pasqueflower or prairie crocus holds a firm place in prairie literature and landscape.   According to some taxonomists the prairie crocus is not really a crocus and therefore is not a member of the Lily family. It has been suggested that it is in fact an anemone which is a member of the Buttercup family (Prairie Garden Annual, 2006, p.61).  In Canada, the pasqueflower is found primarily in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.