Blazing-Star or Gay-Feather
Liatris species (ASTERACEAE, formerly COMPOSITAE)
Planting and Growing Blazing Star
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow blazing-star or gay-feather in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of blazing-star or gay-feather
- Season of bloom and planting time for blazing-star or gay-feather
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for blazing-star or gay-feather
- When, how deep, and where to plant blazing-star or gay-feather
- How to plant blazing-star or gay-feather
- Watering, fertilizing, care and pests or diseases of blazing-star or gay-feather
- Landscape and indoor uses of blazing-star or gay-feather
- Comments about blazing-star or gay-feather and its features
Growing Blazing Star
Summer corm, rhizome. Deciduous. About 35 species. Typically stands 2–5 ft. (60–150 cm) tall; some species to 35 ft. (10.6 m) tall. Narrow. Needlelike, linear, short, hairy green leaves in tiers on a columnar spike.
Common cultivars include Liatris spicata ‘Floristan White’, ‘Kobold’, and ‘Silvertips’, with flowers of various colors.
Blazing Star Planting and Care Guide
Flowers
Late summer–autumn. Purple, white. Multiple tiny, flowerlike bracts in a feathery plume, 1 ft. (30 cm) long, in tiers along stalk. Showy blooms open from top to bottom.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 3–10; ground hardy, zones 4–9, depending on species.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Average. 6.0–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun. Space 6–8 in. (15–20 cm) apart, 1 in. (25 mm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist spring–summer. Fertilize until buds form. Deadhead withered stalks. Mulch, zones 3–4. Stake to support. Propagate by cormels, division in autumn, seed in spring.
Lifting and Storing
Dark, 50–60°F (10–16°C), in porous container of dampened peat moss.
About This Species
Good choice for beds, borders, mixed plantings in meadow, natural gardens. Attracts butterflies. Deer, rodent resistant.