Clusters of tiny, soft pink flower buds in my front yard will soon look like fluffy, cotton candy on 4- to 5-foot long, green stalks. Years ago, I tried growing this Illinois-threatened plant called queen-of-the-prairie, but failed, likely because I put it in a dry, shady place, where it doesn’t thrive.
Now, about eight of these gently scented plants are starting to bloom in a wet depression in the front yard. As July progresses, the many tiny blooms — each with four petals and fuzzy stamens — will appear like pink, fluffy balls of yarn.
It’s difficult to find this species in its natural habitat, but my sister has been able to grow it in a wet part of a large bed of native prairie plantings in her yard. She’s given me some to grow as well. This time we placed it in a more appropriate habitat, and it’s doing beautifully.
Out in the wild, the queen-of-the-prairie grows in moist black soil prairies and meadows, fens, seeps and springs. It’s threatened because of habitat loss. But it also may be rare because, according to iNaturalist, the plant is unable to fertilize itself. It relies on insects, mostly bees, for pollination. Interestingly, this plant does not create nectar, so if a butterfly lands upon it, it will not find anything to stave off its hunger.
If you find queen-of-the-prairie in the wild, you’ve likely encountered a high-quality native habitat. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any growing in the wild in Lake County, but there are some at Wingate Prairie in Crystal Lake in McHenry County. It’s a 39-acre gravel hill prairie, one of the rarest types of grasslands in the state.
The last time I was at Wingate Prairie was about a month ago, and it was too early for the queen-of-the-prairie to bloom. But now’s the time to go to the prairie to see this showy plant in its full regalia.
Some other places to seek this pink beauty include the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, and farther afield, at Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove. Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park also has some specimens you can view for free outdoors.
Here’s a good thing about queen-of-the-prairie — It’s not a popular menu item for deer and rabbits. With all the rabbits in my neighborhood, it’s nice to see a grouping of native plants not getting chomped on by the copious cottontails. We have to put a cage around our rare Michigan lilies because rabbits will gnaw those down to the ground. One even stuck its head into the cage to chew down one of the plants. The others survived and bloomed.
Native Americans found many uses for this plant, as did early settlers. They used its tannin-heavy roots, for example, to treat skin rashes and stop bleeding. Some considered it an aphrodisiac. Queen-of-the prairie also contains salicylic acid, which was discovered in the bark of willow trees as a pain treatment.
Modern medicine uses a synthetic version of salicylic acid in pain relievers. One historical account suggests salicylic acid was isolated from queen-of-the-prairie’s flowers in the 1830s, perhaps revealing why the plant’s flowers were used in tea to reduce fever and alleviate pain.
If you’ve got suitable habitat and want to grow queen-of-the-prairie, purchase the straight species, not cultivated ones, from reputable nurseries that specialize in native plants. I’m lucky my sister did that and then allowed us to dig up a few of her plants and transplant them into our yard.
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Now in July, I can see something that is rare in the wild showing off its pink hues right in my front yard.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected].