Glad you found the flowers because they would be hard to differentiate between just being grass or some other plant. Hopefully you have more growing in your yard somewhere but if not, you can buy them and plant them somewhere that won't get stepped on or mowed down.

The flower in the first picture does seem to match the Prenanthes altissima (Tall Rattlesnakeroot), but there is some disagreement about the leaf shape as in these two web sites : http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0508+0129 http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRAL3 Are there any thoughts on that disagreement? The second flower was a very small plant and there were pleanty of them and they are definitely not Joe Pye Weed, maybe related Thanks Charles

esox .... pick a convenient cluster and keep an eye on them. Some species will have ripe seeds on the bottom while the top is still blooming, but a week or two after the last blooms is a good time to check. Take a 5-gallon bucket with you. When you see that the stalks have tan or yellowish dry-feeling bean-like pods on them, Test the bottom pods - snip one off and see if it pops open easily, and has dry seeds inside. If so, snip the entire bloom stalk and put it cut site UP in the bucket. Collect several stalks. Don't harvest more than 1 in 10 stalks - these are annuals Leave them in the bucket until the pods are all dry and splitting ... the seeds will be spit out, but land in the bucket. Late this summer, rake the dirt where you want them to grow, scatter the seeds and rake them in. They will probably sprout and grow just fine.

I found the name: Pearcea hypocyrtiflora Here's a link with more pictures: http://www.gesneriads.ca/pearcea.htm This diminutive rhizomatous plant has very attractive and colorful foliage, as well as unusual brilliantly red flowers. The lobes of the flowers do not open except under optimum conditions. The flowers are probably hummingbird pollinated. They grow in colonies in tropical rain forests. Thanks, Joe Here is a link that might be useful: More info and pictures about this plant