This is Silphium terebinthinaceum with hugh basal leaves and a tall flower stalk not the common dock. I have some heirloom tomatoes that I could trade also a few kinds of flowers and postage.

I'd love to trade some seeds for your Prarie Smoke. Purple/pink blooms and dry soil. Just what Christmas means to me. I've got: - Frogfruit - Cowpen Daisy - Fall Aster - Candlestick Bush - Porcupine Grass - Blue Mistflower - White Mistflower Do any of these sound interesting to you? Xtal

Thanks, everyone. Yes, it's Geum triflorum. Friends gave me seeds....and I snatched some from a park in Chicago. Tee hee hee. Sorry, tiffy. I looked through my files and found no picture of the whole plant. I'll go out tomorrow to take some. Hope they didn't get smashed. A tornado just went through the area this evening. Mine are still small, but the ones in the park are at least 18" tall. They are grouped together in large drifts. They were quite impressive when I saw them yesterday. I will see if they suffered any storm damage when I go to work on Monday. Here are some more photos. They were taken last month. They are even smokier now and started to fly away. Buds:

I looked at the seed selection at the "big box store with the red bulls eye" the other day, and they don't seem to carry a lot of native seeds, but the one in your area may have them, you never know. I know you can get the seeds for Prairie Smoke/Geum triflorum at Prairie Moon nursery (see link below). Prairie Moon gives the Geum triflorum seed a code "C" with a number 60, which means the seeds likely needs cold, moist stratification for at least 60 days/2 months before the seeds will germinate. It may be a little late even in Zone 5 to stratify them outside, it depends on how warm it is there in Kansas now. But you can always stratify them in your refrigerator. Prairie Moon also sells them as potted plants: http://www.prairiemoon.com/plants/potted-plants/wildflowers-forbs/geum-triflorum-prairie-smoke/ I think you get 38 cells for $96. Not sure if you can order fewer than 38, but it's worth a call or email to check I suppose. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Prairie Moon: Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke)