Prairie smoke
Geum triflorum ·
Nodding, dusky pink flowers in spring turn into upright tufts of feathery, pink-silver seed plumes that look like smoke drifting over the ground.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late April to late May
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around prairie smoke
The planner designed this bed around prairie smoke when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why prairie smoke stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Prairie smoke × 10, pink
- 2 Cottage pinks × 11, white
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 4 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 5 Eastern prickly pear × 1, yellow
- 6 Butterfly weed × 3, orange
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only plumes. The others are daisies, open bowls, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 58% of the edge.
- 10 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Eastern prickly pear is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late April to late May.
- Opens the season. For its first four weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. Cottage pinks is the plant there is most of: 11 of the 37.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where prairie smoke goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Grown for its seed heads, which last longer than most flowers. Plant a drift where low sun will light the plumes from behind, with blue fescue or pasque flower.
- Prairie and rock gardens
- Dry, lean front edges
- Seed heads for late-spring interest
What to plant with prairie smoke
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Pasque flower: in flower together for two weeks, from late April; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Pussytoes: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about prairie smoke
Does prairie smoke need sun or shade?
Prairie smoke grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does prairie smoke grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does prairie smoke flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 5 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to mid May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should prairie smoke be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many prairie smoke plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used 10 in three groups.
What flowers after prairie smoke?
Prairie smoke is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does prairie smoke look like in winter?
Prairie smoke holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
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In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late April to late May; feathery plumes; pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; grey-green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.