Shootingstar, Dodecatheon meadia, has delicate nodding blooms that seem to fly upward and away from the pointed red and yellow flower center, resembling a shooting star. The leafless stalks arise from a lush foliage base, creating the perfect backdrop for the exquisite …
Shootingstar, Dodecatheon meadia, has delicate nodding blooms that seem to fly upward and away from the pointed red and yellow flower center, resembling a shooting star. The leafless stalks arise from a lush foliage base, creating the perfect backdrop for the exquisite flowers.
A spring bloomer and true prairie ephemeral, Shootingstar goes completely dormant in late summer. It is best grown in a lightly shaded area. Fall transplanting is best, but early spring planting is also fine. Mature Shootingstar plants can be propagated by division: Dig the mature crowns in the fall when dormant, then divide and replant.
Bumble bees are the chief pollinators of Shootingstar, and the pollen must be extracted from a narrow tube formed by the united stamens. The bees accomplish this by vibrating their bodies against the tube to shake the pollen out, a technique known as 'buzz pollination.' Other common names include Midland Shootingstar and Prairie Pointers.
We recommend planting ephemerals – which we offer in bare root format – in early fall while the soil is still warm, or in early spring. Spring installations will have some time to develop before summer dormancy, but most likely they will not produce flowers the first year. An early fall planting allows the roots time to establish properly before winter, and gives the plants a stronger start the following spring.
Native plants can be grown outside of their native range in the appropriate growing conditions. This map shows the native range, as well as the introduced range, of this species.
Plant Shipping Rates: for plant orders up to $50 the shipping amount is $9.95. For plant orders from $50.01 and over, the shipping rate is 20% of the total plant cost.
Fall plant-shipping begins on September 9, 2024. The last day to order your plants for fall shipment is September 29.
During checkout, you will be asked to choose a Shipping Week for your plant delivery, from the dates that are available. The week that you choose will be included in your order confirmation email. When your plants ship you will receive an email that includes your tracking information.
Hi-one of your photos show a very dense planting of these. Was this intentional, or does this plant self-seed prolifically? Would it overwhelm shorter grasses like blue gram or prairie dropseed? I'm thinking it might be a good species to interplant with dropseed. Will the shootingstar be actively growing in the spring before the dropseed gets going, then it would go dormant in the summer?
In the photo, the dense planting of Shootingstar is production field, where we harvest seed and bareroot. Shootingstar is not a prolific self seeder, and will not be able to overwhelm the prairie grasses. Your idea to intermix it with Prairie Dropseed sounds wonderful. They would be complimentary in looks as well as in succession, as you mentioned. Yes the shootingstar will prevail in the early season and the dropseed would then fill-in later.
I have never tried bareroot plants before. Do you provide instructions for success with bare root planting? Also, is fall a good time for bare root planting?
Yes, we do send instructions for bare root planting with every plant shipment. The planting brochure that we send can also be found here on our website: prairienursery.com/resources-guides/how-to-transplant-bare-root-plants/
Fall is a great time for installing bare root plants. Early spring is also fine. We recommend planting ephemerals – which we offer in bare root format – in early fall while the soil is still warm, or in early spring. Spring installations will have some time to develop before summer dormancy, but they might not have time to produce flowers the first year. An early fall planting allows the roots time to establish properly before winter, and gives the plants a stronger start the following spring.
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