Description: Purple flower spikes with delicate, fern-like foliage.
Growth Habit: Upright, clump-forming perennial. 2ft height
Sun/Shade: Full sun.
Water Needs: Low; prefers well-drained soil.
Soil Preferences: Well-drained, sandy or loamy soil.
Benefits: Attracts bees and butterflies. Drought-tolerant. Great for prairie restorations.
 
From Prairie Moon Nursery:
Purple Prairie Clover is a staple legume of sunny, diverse plantings in medium to dry soils. This plant is not picky when it comes to the soil characteristics, as long as the site is well-drained. Typical habitats of Purple Prairie Clover include black soils prairies, sand prairies, savannas, and limestone glades. Before flowering, it can be easy to tell the Purple from the White Prairie Cloverby looking at the leaves, which are wide on the White and narrow on the Purple Prairie Clover (see corresponding photo.) Purple Prairie Clover has a deep taproot that ensures it will last in any native planting. Previously called Petalostemum purpureum, we love Purple Prairie Clover because it can be planted in the spring, on bare soil, and will germinate without overwintering; it does not need stratification.
 
Purple prairie clover has a thimble-shaped flower arrangment which blooms from the bottom to the top. These purple flowers do not have a noticeable floral scent, but the flowers attract a number of pollinators. This plant is listed as a superfood for the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Honeybees, bumblebees, cuckoo bees, leafcutter bees, and more visit the flowers for pollen and nectar. Other insects feed on the seeds, foliage, and other parts. The Dogface Sulphur and Reakirt's Blue use Purple Prairie Clover as one of their larval host plants. Even after the flowers are done blooming, Purple Prairie Clover remains very attractive due to its ornamental foliage.