PLANT PROFILE - PASQUE FLOWER
Pasque Flower, Pulsatilla vulgaris, (alternatively Anemone pulsatilla depending on your reference) goes by several common names, the most misleading of which is 'prairie crocus'. Early settlers saw the small purple flowers of its cousin Anemone patens poking thru the dead grasses on the prairie in the early spring and thought they resembled the Crocus that they knew from 'the old country' which are actually bulbs. The name 'Pasque Flower' is a reference to Easter although in Calgary they generally bloom in late April, early May, often one of the first perennial plants to bloom for us in the spring. One of the prettier common names for it I think is 'Windflower' which is as much a reference to the fuzzy seed-heads that are rather interesting in the garden if you leave them up to blow in the wind.
