Plant of the Month for May
Pasque Flower
Pulsatilla vulgaris
This hardy perennial with its
purple anemone like flowers and golden stamens held above silky
feathery grey green leaves just 20cm above the ground is a jewel of our
native flora. The common names for this wonderful endemic plant is
‘meadow anemone’ or ‘pasque flower’. It takes its common name from the
Hebrew for Passover, as its main flowering period is Easter, the time
of Passover.
There are very few places left in which it can be
found growing naturally, but it loves the short turf of undisturbed
chalk grasslands found in parts of North Yorkshire, the Chilterns and
the Downs of the southeast of England and these natural situations
provide the best clues as to where to plant it within the garden.
An open sunny, fertile border, near the front of a rock
garden or raised bed away from water logged soils where it can rot off
will provide the best positions to establish it.
Here at Myerscough College it can be found growing in the Lime Tolerant
border facing the Garden Café where it has been allowed to grow
undisturbed for several years. Pasque flowers resent root disturbance,
so should not be moved once established.
After a long period of flowering, the blooms are replaced by
taller fluffy silky seed heads that provide as much interest as the
flowers. This stunning garden plant has acquired many uses over the
years. A green dye is obtained from the flowers and it also has many
medicinal uses. It has been and still is considered poisonous if used
fresh but modern herbalists value it highly for its curative properties
when carefully dried and used in the first twelve months. The whole
plant is useful as an antispasmodic, diuretic, expectorant, and
sedative. However this remedy should only be prepared by a professional
herbalist as excessive doses cause diarrhoea and vomiting!
This interesting and slow growing plant also exhibits
allopathic properties. Its exudates inhibit the growth of nearby
plants, particularly members of the legume family.
The plant can be grown from seed which is best sown as soon
as it is ripe in early summer in a cold frame, where the seed usually
germinates in about 2 - 3 weeks. Alternatively sow seed in late winter
in a cold frame, where germination takes about 1 - 6 months at 15°c.
When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into
individual 9cm pots to prevent later root disturbance and grow them on
in the greenhouse for at least the first winter.
Like other members of the anemone clan they can be grown from
root cuttings. Cut a section about 4cm long in November, pot up in a
mixture of peat and sand and they should be ready to plant out in late
spring the following year. However if the thought of propagation is too
much, then purchase a young pot grown plant which can come in several
coloured forms from red, purple and even white; place it in a well
drained sunny position and enjoy years and years of its fascinating
nodding bell shaped flowers and silky tops as they dance merrily in the
wind.
