Pasque flowers - heralds of spring

Since I started gardening I have been fascinated by pasque flowers (Pulsatilla spp.). Pasque flowers start flowering quite early in spring, normally in March. The hairy flower buds slowly unfold, until finally purple (sometimes pink or white) nodding  bell-shaped flowers with a yellow centre open. The flowers are very large for such a small plant and really stand out in a still quite bare early spring garden. This makes them easy to find for bumblebees and solitary bees who seem to like the flowers. Apparently most pasque flowers do not offer nectar as a reward (with the exception of spring pasque flower, Pulsatilla vernalis), but instead offer copious amounts of pollen.

A bumblebee collecting pollen

There are about 33 species of pasque flowers, mainly growing in North America, Europe and Asia. So far I have only grown our native pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) but want to sow seeds of a few others this autumn starting with eastern pasque flower (Pulsatilla patens). If growing from seed it is best to sow the seeds fresh as in my experience they don`t seem to need any cold treatment (stratification) then and germinate in a few weeks. Last summer I collected some seeds from pasque flowers growing in a garden and sowed them a few days later. To my surprise nearly 100 % of the seeds germinated after about 2 weeks. I ended up with 30 or so young plants which I had to find a suitable space for on my allotment. I am really looking forward to seeing them all come into flower this spring (or latest next spring).

Pasque flowers flowering on my allotment

If you have older seed you might need to stratify them. It is best to sow them in autumn and leave them somewhere protected outside (a coldframe is ideal) so they can experience winter temperature but don`t get hammered by rain. The seeds will germinate in spring. You can also sow the seeds in a greenhouse and move them into a fridge after 2 weeks. Keep the seeds in the fridge for 2-3 months and then bring them back to the greenhouse and wait for the seeds to germinate. If nothing germinates put them back in the fridge.

A solitary bee has found the pasque flowers

Pasque flowers like to grow in a sunny position on very well-drained humus-rich but gritty soil. They don`t like to be crowded or overshadowed by other plants so the front of a sunny border or in a rock garden would be ideal. One of my plants is growing in a raised bed together with other low-growing rock garden plants. The raised bed is filled with a mix of humus-rich soil, grit and coarse sand and seems to suit the pasque flower quite well.

The old raised bed on my allotment, now replaced with a new one

Wild pasque flowers growing in Germany

I was lucky to live for several years near a large population of pasque flowers in Germany. The plants were growing in calcareous grassland on sunny well-drained slopes. Every spring I walked up there to see them, 100eds of beautiful nodding flowers, all open in the early spring sunshine, what a sight!


The seed heads appearing in April and May are spectacular as well, big fluffy balls which look even better after a rain shower as the many little hairs collect water droplets. You can collect the seeds as soon as they are ripe in June or July and sow them straight away to create more plants. Pasque flowers don`t like being divided and normally grow best if left alone. I had to dig up a large plant last winter as my raised bed was falling apart and I wanted to replace it with a new one. I divided the clump into two and planted both but they did not flower very well last spring. I hope they have settled now and flower better this spring.

Pasque flower seed head after a rain shower

So why not give it a try and grow this pretty herald of spring in your garden as well?