A critical feature of the habitat is wet spring soil, though the site can become totally baked in the summer. Satin flower makes an excellent early spring garden subject for the sunny rock garden. It will grow in light deciduous shade too in normal garden soil, so you can use it at the front of a shrub border. The plant settles in quickly but spreads slowly. Usually it blooms the first spring after planting.
Satin flowers propagate easily from small rooted pieces of the matted crown.
Once established they spread by seed. You can raise satin flowers by sowing mature seed in the summer and leaving it over the winter. Do not dig this relatively uncommon plant from the wild, rather try raising it from seed or have the local garden centre order it from a specialist nursery. The name Sisyrinchium is apparently based on an ancient Greek name for another plant, though some experts think it may mean 'similar to iris'. The species name douglasii honours David Douglas a renowned botanical explorer of the Pacific Northwest two centuries ago.