There is nothing quite so spectacular as a meadow of blazing star, their colorful wands punctuating the air like so many exclamation points. Luckily you don’t need a meadow to grow them, and there are species for dry and wet conditions.
Whether you call it blazing star, gayfeather or liatris, this midsummer beauty makes a fun, bold statement no matter where it is — in a meadow, your garden, or a vase.
Liatris is native to North America and a member of the aster family with over fifty species. It blooms in mid to late summer. Most of these are wildflowers of course, most suitable for large gardens and semi-wild meadows. But several have been bred for use in flower gardens.
Dense Blazing Star
The straight species, Liatris spicata, makes grass-like clumps of foliage that send up clusters of light purple wands 3 to 6 feet tall. This variety is often called Dense Blazing Star or Marsh Blazing Star. It will bloom happily at the back of a border, in rain gardens and native beds or among shrubs and grasses. The flowering wands are showy and fluffy in rich lavender-pink.
Dense Blazing Star does better in moist, slightly acidic soils than other blazing stars, making it a good choice for zone 6, and it can even survive marshy conditions. It’s a bold, easy-care choice with good hardiness once established.
The cultivar most people know is Liatris spicata Kobold, a shorter variety bred especially for home gardens. Two-foot-tall spikes arise from a narrow-leaved clump, usually blooming its first year. The spikes are fat and sturdy with pink-purple fringed blooms. The flowers are slow to open from the top down, allowing for several weeks of vibrant color– like purple drumsticks!
Kobold’s only drawback is a short lifespan due to our wet winters. Most rarely make it past two years here in zone 6, with three years being exceptional. What makes Kobold so popular despite this flaw is its perfect size, short enough to fit into any midborder, bed or container. Unfortunately it’s not a great choice for pollinators. But its architectural form and superb color are reason enough to plant it. Just don’t overwater it, and provide good drainage.
I used to grow it in a raised planter at my previous residence, where it did quite well for several years. In my current garden it lasted two years.
Pretty in White
While most blazing stars are purple or magenta, there are two white spicatas, Alba and Floristan White, with recent crosses resulting in Floristan Alba and a few others. They all look and behave similarly, so the specific cultivar name is not important.
I have found spicata Alba to be creamy white rather than “pure white” as sometimes claimed. Be careful pairing it with other whites lest it read as “dirty” next to a bright white companion (say, phlox David). Both go well with creamy whites like fleabane and eupatorium.
Developed in Germany for the cut flower trade, Floristan white is a tad shorter than Alba at about 28 inches, but both can reach 3 to 4 feet. (I haven’t grown Floristan white, but I’d like to.) Tall companions and close spacing will help keep the flower stalks upright. Massed, they certainly make a striking statement! I wish I had the space for a large planting.
A Prairie Native to Try
Another top choice is Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya). Native to the middle and eastern US, prairie star is tough and adaptable. Hardiest of the lot, prairie star tolerates clay, sand and cold as well as or even better than spicata. Free-draining average soil is fine.
I grow Prairie Star because so far, it has survived year to year for me. I like it with grasses, globe thistle, knifophia and cleome to name a few.
For native beds, prairie star holds its own with blackeyed-susans, helianthus, fleabane, milkweeds, rattlesnake master and beebalm. It modestly attracts butterflies and bees. Being a slim plant, it fits in anywhere if you want to tuck a few in here and there for accent.
Not recommended
A word of caution on what not to plant —
Button or Dotted blazing star (Liatris aspera). Button star is a wonderful wildflower and first-class pollinator magnet. But according to the Chicago Botanic Garden, this species performed the worst in their liatris home garden trial for northern regions. Best suited for hot dry conditions, button star does not tolerate wet or cold, so it dies quickly in our climate.
There is also a white button species, Liatris scariosa Alba (not to be confused with spicata Alba). Like aspera it prefers drier conditions than we can provide. So I can’t recommend either of these. Or at least be aware they may not last long if you do try them.
Gayfeather Companions
All liatris open from the top down, just the reverse of most spiked flowers. This trait gives the effect of fluffy drumsticks or feather tufts (hence its common name) when the plant begins to flower. As the blooms slowly finish, the stems remain decorative for several weeks.
Purple varieties look best with creams, purples, blues, cool pinks, and lime greens. If high-contrast drama is your thing, try it with rudbeckia, tickseed, helenium, helianthus, crocosmia, butterflyweed or sunflowers.
Spicata Alba or Floristan White would be stunning with Russian sage, coneflowers, roses and dark-foliaged plants. Placed in front of a solid hedge or conifer, their white wands will pop even more. There’s no end to possibilities.
Care
Plant liatris corms 4 to 5 inches deep and 5 to 10 inches apart. They do best with excellent drainage and soil that isn’t too rich. The plants begin in spring as grassy clumps, sending up spikes by July in zone 6. They bloom from late July well into August. Don’t fertilize them or they will flop. On the other hand, don’t let them get bone-dry either.
TIP: If your liatris insist on flopping or twisting, they are either getting too much water, not enough sun or the soil is too rich. Inevitably, it happens to everyone because of occasional high rainfall. Stake them if necessary.
While full sun is optimal, most blazing stars will tolerate a little light shade. Too much shade though, and flowering will suffer. (Prairie star is perhaps the most tolerant in this regard.)
A spot next to a fence or wall or with tall companions will aid in keeping the flower stalks vertical. But let’s get real: in a strong storm, nothing is going to keep them all standing upright. That’s life. But the bees will still find them. Stake or prop them up if they are in a highly visible spot.
After flowering, cut stalks at the base or leave standing for late season interest. Depending on the species, liatris may propagate very lightly from seed (blooming the second year); sometimes they bud modestly from the corms and you will see a small daughter plant forming. Simply dig up in fall or early spring and divide. Liatris is not invasive and I’ve never had issues with volunteers being a problem. Try to keep mulch and debris out of the crowns to avoid root rot.
TIP: Don’t have a lot of growing space? Kobold can be grown successfully in containers and tubs. It makes an arresting visual element in a pot. At season’s end, store corms in a cold, frost-free place over the winter, and replant them in fresh, well-draining soil the following spring.
Whatever you call it– gayfeather, blazing star, liatris– I hope you plant some. Every garden needs a little drama by mid-August, and this is one plant that delivers.
