Dodecatheon meadia - Midland Shooting Star - 38 Plug Tray

Midland shooting star is a low-growing, show-stopping prairie spring ephemeral that produces its unique blooms for about a month in the late spring before going fully dormant by midsummer. From a fibrous root system, midland shooting star produces an attractive basal rosette of fleshy oblong foliage. One plant can send up several thin, reddish flowering scapes which are topped with nodding umbels of its iconic shooting star flowers which are typically pollinated by bumblebees. These flowers have a huge natural variation in color from white to pink to purple. The five petals per flower spread outward toward the sky, meeting in a point of yellow stamens that nod definitively toward the ground. There are often rings of yellow and maroon where the petals are fused. Anywhere from 8-20 flowers are produced per umbel, so Midland shooting star can put on quite a display when grouped in masses. This plant is highly adaptable to a wide range of soil and light conditions, though it prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil in partial sunlight.