Liatris
Blazing Stars
An American native best planted in drifts, Liatris is a free spirit in the border, in the meadow or in the wild garden. With striking vertical lines, these Blazing Stars add lift to the garden. From a tuft of grassy leaves, stiff, bottlebrush-shaped flowers top leafy stems.
Uniquely, buds burst to bloom from the top down. Coveted by florists for both fresh and dried blossoms, Liatris endures heat, likes well drained soil, and beckons butterflies and bees.
An exceptional nectar-rich beacon for Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies plus numerous other pollinators, the fluffy thistle-style clusters feature countless dark rose-purple disc florets with curly thread-like styles on splendid long-lasting terminal spires. This herculean central U.S. and Canadian denizen wields prismatic late summer vertical accents above a sturdy green basal tuft described by long narrow oblong leaves, whitish midribs and short niveous hairs. Abiding heat, lean soil, drought and humidity, but not winter wetness, Liatris ligulistylis can grace cut arrangements as well as prairie gardens, water-wise plantings and perennial borders alongside native cohorts such as Andropogon ‘Karl’s Cousin’, Eryngium yuccifolium and Monarda ‘Prairie Night’.
Blooms July–September
Size: 2' 0" – 3' 0" high x 15" wide.
Hardy to zone 3.
Liatris spicata ‘Floristan Violett’ (P-1189)
Each $10.50
Unrivaled in its popularity among professional florists and gardeners alike, ‘Floristan Violett’s tall, strong stems entertain gorgeous, violet-hued wands, thickly set with small tubular flowers. Grounded by thin grasslike leaves, this vivacious presentation lends an animated accent to a swathe of Luzula ‘Ruby Stiletto’.
Blooms July–early September.
Size: 3' 0" high x 18" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
Studded with quantities of starry button-shaped flowers, the lofty pure white spires surmount strong un-branched straight-up stems wrapped in slender fresh green foliage. No-fuss ‘Floristan White’ casts shimmering summertime accents when planted amid Echinacea ‘White Swan’ and Panicum ‘Shenandoah’.
Blooms July-early September
Size: 3' 0" high x 18" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’ (P-0954)
Each $10.50
‘Kobold’ means “goblin”—and big-headed it is. This compact cultivar has a smaller stature than others of its species, and its erect stems rise solidly from the earth. Grassy foliage plays host to an outstanding bristle of rosy lilac blooms. A vibrant garden guest, contrast ‘Kobold’ against Phlomis fruticosa’s yellow blooms and harmonize with the pinkish panicles of Calamagrostis brachytricha. Coveted by florists for both fresh and dried blossoms, Liatris endures heat, likes well-drained soil and beckons butterflies and bees.
Blooms July–September.
Size: 2' 0" high x 12" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
