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Prairie Smoke

Geum triflorum
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What is it? Geum triflorum, commonly known as Prairie Smoke, is a distinctive prairie wildflower, a perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family.
Native to where? The plant is native to many areas of the north central and western United States.
Hardiness Zone: Plants are hardy from USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 7.
What does it look like? Its common name, Prairie Smoke, derives from the appearance of its wispy seedheads. The flowering stalks stand well above the leaves on red-purple-maroon stems 10–45 cm in height. Each flower hangs upside down by itself from a separate pedicle. When pollination is completed, the flower heads turn upright and the sepals begin to open. The seed heads start out pale pink and fade to tan or grey as the seeds mature in mid-summer.
Bloom Time: The flowers appear from mid-spring to early summer.
Growth Habit: It is a perennial herb with short, spreading rhizomes, which form colonies of stemless rosettes. Early in the spring, the leaves often lie flat to the ground and are in poor condition, but they soon become more upright in response to the warmer days and lack of snow cover. In the heat of a dry summer, the leaves also will lie down closer to the earth. The plants resume growth in the fall as other plants are starting to go dormant, developing a mound of deep grey-green leaves.
Growing Conditions: Excellent for hot dry spots, it thrives in any well-drained soil. Wet and soggy winter conditions may cause the plants to die back.
Environmental Benefits: Deer resistant.
Sources:
https://www.prairienursery.com/prairie-smoke-geum-triflorum.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geum_triflorum
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/prairie-smoke-geum-triflorum/
Image Source:
By Thayne Tuason - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67139532
By Walter Siegmund - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34094362

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