Pink hawksbeard (Crepis rubra) is a charming addition to the cool-season garden. Looking very much like a pink-flowered dandelion, its layered, pink-petaled blooms appear mainly in late spring to early or midsummer atop stems that typically reach about 1 foot tall, over a low rosette of slender, green leaves. Deadheading can help to prolong to bloom season a bit, but hot weather will bring it to an end in fairly short order. If the plants survive the main part of the summer, they may produce more flowers later in the season, but don’t count on it unless you live where cool summers are the norm. The flowers mature into tufts of silky white hairs atop very thin, dark seeds.

Though the flowering season isn’t very long in most areas, pink hawksbeard is a lovely choice for its “something different” factor. It also attracts a variety of beneficial insects. This Mediterranean native is reportedly right at home in poor, dry soil, but it also performs well for me in well-prepared, evenly moist garden soil. Full sun to light shade. Usually grown as an annual, but it can apparently act as a perennial in some conditions. I suspect that regular deadheading would encourage that; otherwise, the plants pretty much bloom themselves out.