Pulsatilla vulgaris (purple pasque flower)

A Flash of Colour: Pasqueflowers

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Over the past week or so, I’ve been enjoying the brilliantly-coloured flowers of Pulsatilla vulgaris (commonly known as pasqueflower) in my garden. Their rich violet-purple petals and golden stamens are a sight that has lifted my spirits.

You can see these flowers at their best on a sunny day, when they open fully, inviting bees to come and pollinate them. Soon there will be the fluffy white seed heads which glisten in the sun as their silky hairs catch the light. (You can see the seed head at the top of this post.)

Pulsatilla vulgaris (purple pasque flower)
I find the fluffy stems and leaves of the pasqueflower very appealing.

It feels like no time at all since the flowers started to appear but it won’t be long before they go over. This feeling is partly because I’m distracted by the spring work in the garden and sometimes get too engrossed in whatever is keeping me busy.

A nearby clump of white pasqueflowers has already finished flowering. (I removed the seed heads from this one as it’s still a young plant and I didn’t want it to put its energy into producing seeds yet.) The difference in timing intrigues me – why did the white one flower a couple of weeks earlier than the purple one? It can’t be a difference in conditions because they are only a foot apart and get the same amount of sun.

The spring flowers seem to rush into bloom very quickly and disappear quickly too. Maybe it’s the comparison with the slower changes of winter that makes this seem to be the case. It’s a good time to pause and have a good look around to see what’s in bloom and to take a few moments to appreciate the brilliance and exuberance of our spring flowers.

Pulsatilla vulgaris (purple pasque flower)
Spring flowers bring glorious colour to the garden.

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

27 thoughts on “A Flash of Colour: Pasqueflowers”

      1. They’re now mostly fluffy seed heads with lovely long and silky hairs. I can remember watching one of my cats batting at the seed heads – she thought they were a great toy, hehe!

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  3. There have been a lot of people posting images of these flowers recently — all from areas far north of me, of course. I didn’t know they existed until perhaps last year. I recently learned that another name for them has been “passe flower” — there’s some information about that here. At first, I thought the “passe” was a reference to the quick “passing” of the bloom. It seems that’s a folk etymology, but it still is apt: now we see them, then we don’t!

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    1. Thanks for the link – that was very interesting to read. I can see that they’d have been reckoned to surpass all flowers but yes, I like your version…they seem to finish flowering before you expect it!

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    1. I find it hard to keep up with spring – there’s always so much to do in the garden that I miss out on photographing some flowers. But that just means that I’ll have them to photograph the following year… 🙂

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    1. To be honest, it’s a bit mixed, Shelly! Good in parts, not so much in others! There are a lot of areas with complete disruption as work’s being done. Hubby and I were clearing areas along the edge of the garden to allow access for new fences to go in. (That will have to wait for a bit.) And there are parts that are being completely changed…lots to keep me busy during lockdown. 🙂

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