Scarlet Indian Paintbrush

Year-round

Indian paintbrush is a hemiparasitic native wildflower that draws part of its nutrients from a neighboring host plant. It is native to Minnesota, found in prairies, meadows, and open sandy woods across the Minneapolis area, according to Minnesota Wildflowers. It grows best in full sun to light shade with well drained, often sandy soil, and it behaves as an annual or biennial, so most gardeners let it reseed rather than expecting one plant to come back for many years.

• Plant it next to a host grass such as little bluestem, prairie dropseed, or June grass, since paintbrush needs those roots to grow well.
• Choose a sunny to lightly shaded spot with sandy or well drained soil rather than heavy wet clay.
• Avoid moving an established plant, disturbing its root connection to the host usually kills it.
• Let some flowers go to seed each season so the patch can refresh itself, since individual plants are often short lived.
• It does not currently appear on the ASPCA's toxic or non-toxic plant lists, so no published toxicity finding exists for it yet.

Fall

Fall is the best time to start new Indian paintbrush plants from seed in the Minneapolis area, since the seed needs a period of cold before it will sprout. A hard frost, usually in early to mid October, blackens the top growth on the year's flowering plants and ends the bloom season. This is also a good window to add more host grass around existing paintbrush so next year's plants have roots to connect to.

• Nick a small slit in the soil right next to an established host grass and press the tiny paintbrush seed in, rather than sowing it alone.
• Let the winter cold and snow handle the seed stratification, no indoor treatment is needed for a fall sowing.
• After frost blackens the top growth on this year's flowering plants, cut the dead stalks back to keep a front bed looking tended.
• Leave a light layer of fallen leaves over the planting area, it helps insulate seed and rosettes through a Minnesota winter.

Cutting back the blackened stalks after frost keeps a front-facing bed tidy heading into winter, while leaving the seed already in the soil undisturbed.

Winter

Through a Minneapolis winter, first year Indian paintbrush plants sit as low rosettes at ground level and rely on snow cover for insulation, while any seed sown in fall stays dormant in the cold soil until spring. There is little active care to do this time of year beyond leaving the planting undisturbed. It is a reasonable stretch to plan next year's host grass additions, since paintbrush performs best when paired with an actively growing host.

• Avoid walking on the bed or piling shoveled snow over it, rosettes sit close to the ground and can be crushed.
• Skip a thick winter mulch, paintbrush prefers to stay in direct contact with open soil rather than being smothered.
• Leave fall sown seed alone, the cold and snow are already doing the stratification work it needs.
• Use the quiet months to plan where to add host grasses like little bluestem for spring, since paintbrush needs that living root connection.

Spring

Spring in the Minneapolis area is when paintbrush seedlings and any fall sown seed begin to show above ground, usually once the coldest weather breaks in April. New plantings need to go in right next to an already growing host grass, since the paintbrush root has to make contact with a host to establish. Rosettes that overwintered from last year are cold hardy and can handle a late frost without protection.

• If you are adding new plants, tuck seedlings or plugs in beside an already growing host grass as soon as the soil can be worked.
• Watch bare sandy patches for small rosettes coming up on their own, these are volunteers from last year's seed drop.
• Skip heavy fertilizer, both paintbrush and its host grasses do better in average to lean soil.
• Hold off on mulching over the crown, paintbrush grows best in open ground with little competition.

Summer

Summer is bloom time for Indian paintbrush in the Minneapolis area, with the scarlet bracts typically showing from late spring into August. The flower shape is suited to hummingbirds, which visit often while it is in bloom. Because the plant shares roots with its host grass, how well it handles summer heat and dry spells depends a lot on how that host grass is doing.

• Water new plantings during dry stretches in the first summer, established clumps sharing roots with a host usually need less help.
• Leave the spent flower heads in place through the season, the seed they drop is how a paintbrush patch keeps itself going.
• Check on the host grass too, if it wilts in summer heat the paintbrush connected to it will struggle as well.
• Expect individual plants to decline and die back after they set seed, that is normal for this short lived wildflower.

If tidiness matters on a front-facing bed, the browning stems after bloom can be trimmed back once the seed heads have clearly dried and dropped, instead of left standing through the rest of summer.