Dalea purpurea (Petalostemon Purpureum) Purple Prairie Clover Seed & Plants
(DAY-lee-uh  pur-PURR-ee-uh)
Easyliving Native Perennial Wildflowers
Native Wild Flower Plants & Seeds for Home landscaping & Prairie Restorations

For other flowers visit the wildflower seed list , to order copy  the orderform or 
email questions, comments, and orders to john@easywildflowers.com  
Dalea purpurea Purple Prairie Clover potted plants are available, $5 each plus Boxing & UPS shipping), I will need to know your zip code and number of plants to calculate the cost for shipping.

Dalea purpurea, formerly Petalostemon purpureum.  The fine delicate foliage of Purple or Violet Prairie Clover is complemented by magenta to rose-purple flowers that bloom upward on cylindrical spikes. The flowers begin to bloom at the base of the 1 to 3 inch dense spikes traveling upward resulting in magnificent color.  Native Purple Prairie Clover plants are great used in the front of a formal flower bed or in a larger mass in a naturalized setting and is a host plant for Dogface Butterflies. This striking prairie plant grows best in a well drained site with average moisture and is drought tolerant. Plant native Dalea purpurea wild flowers with (Missouri Black-eyed Susan), (Sand Coreopsis), (Foxglove Beard-tongue) and prairie grasses like Little Bluestem and Prairie Dropseed.

Wild Purple Prairie Clover is a colorful plant occurring naturally on dry glades, prairies, and savannas from Indiana to Saskatchewan, and Montana, south to Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, and introduced east to New York.  Fabaceae (Bean Family)

purple prairie clover, Violet prairie clover

 Violet prairie clover can be used in roadside plantings, as wildlife food and habitat, in wildflower gardens because of its attractive flowers, and as a small component in a seeding mixture for prairie restoration.  Tea can be made from vigorous taproot to reduce fever in measles victims.  This plant is highly palatable and nutritious.  It is grazed often and tends to decrease under heavy use.  Violet prairie clover fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Violet prairie clover is a native, warm-season legume which grows to a height of 30 to 90 cm.  Several stems may grow from a single base.  The flowers are pinkish-purple on elongated spikes which are 2-4 cm long.  The flower head at the end of a wiry stem is cylindrical, with a fringe of rosy petals on a partly bare cone.  Violet prairie clover flowers the last of May through September. The leaves are divided into 3-5 narrow leaflets which may be sparingly hairy.

Violet prairie clover occurs in prairies, rocky open glades, along railroads, and rocky or open woods.  
It ranges from Indiana to Saskatchewan and Montana, south to Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico; also in Alabama and introduced east to New York.  It is most abundant in the upland of the true prairie.  It also occurs in sand prairies, hill prairies, and gravel-hill prairies.

 Prepare a clean weed free seedbed by disking and harrowing.  Firm the seedbed by cultipacking.  The seedbed should be firm enough to allow the seed to be planted ¼ inch deep.  A seeder with a legume box works well in the seeding operation, although other types of seeders or drills may be used.  Violet prairie clover is easily propagated from seed.  Seed sown in spring will produce transplants in one season.  For permanent plantings, sow unstratified inoculated (Inoculum –F) seed in fall, stratified inoculated seed in spring.  Plants are largely cross-pollinated.  Violet prairie clover grows well on well-drained or dry soils.

Seeding rates for violet prairie clover should be about two pounds of pure live seed (PLS) per acre for seed production in 36-inch rows.  For solid stand production, drill three times the seeding rate of row production to maintain 40 PLS per square foot.  For prairie restoration or diverse plantings for wildlife, use at least five species of native grasses and ten species of native forbs or legumes.  Plant purple prairie clover at a rate of eight ounces/acre PLS when this species is 0-5% of the combined mixture.  Scarified inoculated seed should be used in spring plantings and unscarified inoculated seed should be used to make fall plantings.  There are approximately 300,000 clean seeds in one pound of violet prairie clover.

 Apply no fertilizer the establishment year unless a soil test indicates a severe deficiency of potassium and/or phosphorus.  Use no nitrogen during the establishment year as this can encourage weed competition.

 Reduce weed competition by mowing at a height that will not affect the purple prairie clover seedlings.  For grassy weed control use Poast herbicide and follow label recommendations, as herbicide weed control will encourage a good stand.  For preemergence or post emergence, Plateau herbicide is labeled; follow label recommendations

The map below shows areas where Dalea purpurea Purple Prairie Cloverwildflower plants grow wild but it can be planted and will grow over other areas of the US.  USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 9.

Please contact us by email for shipping costs on Dalea purpurea Purple Prairie Clover potted plants
Use the chart below for shipping charges on flower seeds, to order copy the order form or email questions, comments & orders to john@easywildflowers.com 
We accept payment by check, money order, and through Paypal

The minimum seed order amount is $10, this can be a combination of different seeds.

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Easyliving Wildflowers
PO Box  522
Willow Springs,  Mo.  65793
phone-fax 417-469-2611 

Plant distribution map & information complements of USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1
  (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.