The Amazing Pasque Flower

The image both above and below were taken yesterday of the pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) emerging in the alpine garden.  We have 12 or so plants in that area and it's so much fun to watch this tough perennial go from this fuzzy spring growth to beautiful blossoms and wispy seed heads later in the season.  All the photos in this blog are of our pasque flowers in that specific garden area although we have them elsewhere too.  This member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) is native to the grasslands of Europe and loves full sun.  It will be less than 12" tall with a similar width and really roots in well for drought tolerance.  The bloom time is quite long and the seed heads certainly extend the show.  Enjoy the selections below including double forms.

We had a productive day with plenty of garden activity under overcast skies.  It was colder than yesterday with the high under 50 degrees F.  We had some light drizzle in the morning but thankfully had a relatively dry day for garden work.  Cindy, Big John, Janice, Cheryl and Larry all had a wide range of tasks out in the gardens including tidying up, cutting back roses, removals, etc.  Larry worked with our irrigation crew again today and the gardens continue to show more growth each day.  Eva, Kathy and Peg did a nice job continuing their garden clean-up efforts in more areas.  They brought back many loads of debris.  Urban stopped by later for some pruning duties.  Nancy N. and Dr. Gredler were in for painting duties and Bill O. helped with a wide range of activities.  We also saw Maury, Gary and many others today.