Why choose native plants? Pacific Northwest native plants know how to live here and how to thrive here. They often need much less water and less fertilizer. They spread slowly and are not invasive. They support a wide diversity of wildlife. And best of all, they look great!
The sublime prairie shooting star is a kind of meadow miracle, giving rise to magenta blossoms – striking in both color intensity and form. Strongly recurved blossoms are fringed at their base by a yellow ring, under which five stamens converge to create a beak-like form. These flowers (sometime variable in color from white to almost purple) are visited intently by bumble bees which affix themselves to the business-end of the flower, causing the entire stem to bob up and down as they go about their work of pollen-collecting. The rosette of basal leaves are likely caterpillar food for beautiful blue Lycaenidae butterflies – the Arctic Blue (Plebejus glandon) and the Sierra Nevada Blue (Plebejus podarce). This is the most widespread of the western shooting stars, ranging from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains, and from Alaska to southward into Mexico. Shooting stars sometimes flower as early as the second year, and once established, are long-lived and carefree. Mature plants can achieve a height of about 18-inches and are resplendent with numerous flowers. This plant strongly prefers damp but well drained locations such as rocky seeps, moist embankments, and seasonally damp meadows. As long as soil conditions are optimal, shooting star is adapted to both partial shade and full sun. Prairie (or dark-throated) shooting star’s scientific name has recently been updated to Primula pauciflora. Photo courtesy of Northwest Meadowscapes.
