With its short-stemmed, clumping growth habit, pasque flower makes an ideal plant for rock gardens or the tops of stone retaining walls and terraces. It grows best in full sun in cooler parts of the transition zone, but will benefit from afternoon shade where summers are hot and dry.
The most common pasque flowers in the transition zone have purple or lavender blooms with sunny yellow centers, but other cultivars offer white, blue, or red petals. Blooms are cupped and may be as large as 3 to 3˝ inches wide. Pasque flower leaves are light green and fernlike, with silky hairs covering them as well as the stems and buds. The puffy, silken seedheads that succeed the flowers are also attractive.
Pasque flower is one of the first perennials to bloom in early spring - sometimes well before flowering bulbs like daffodils - and will continue to bloom for 4 to 6 weeks. Another common name for the plant is Easter flower, since it is often in bloom at the time of the religious holiday.
