Blazing Stars or Gay Feather (Liatris)

Liatris is a genus in the aster family native to North America with at least 40 species and many cultivars available. They all consist of disc flowers without rays on a spike that blooms from the top down in pink, purple, and white. The flower spike has a bottle-brush appearance. Some are showier than others. The grass-like leaves are long, linear and arching, and they grow from a corm.

Liatris prefers average to moist, well-drained soil under full to partial sun. It tolerates summer heat and humidity. Height and preferred soil conditions vary by species.

Use these plants in the native pollinator garden to attract butterflies, beneficial bees and wasps, and moths. Hummingbirds and songbirds use liatris as a food source. Liatris is a host plant for the Lepidoptera species, including the flower moths Schinia gloriosa

Leaves
Magnus Manske
CC BY-SA 2.5

Flower with Monarch butterfly
USFWS Midwest Region
CC BY 2.0

and Schinia sanguinea, both of which feed exclusively on the genus, and Schinia tertia and Schinia trifascia.

Liatris shows well in the border, in groupings, or as a tall accent plant.

Propagate by division because, although liatris can be grown from seed, it is slow to establish. If it is nec-essary to store corms, do so in a cool, protected area. Refrigerate for storage greater than 3 weeks. Plant corms about 5-in. deep and 6- to 8-in. apart.

Liatris is drought-tolerant and has few problems with diseases and insects.

By Kathryn Copley, Extension Master Gardener℠ Volunteer, Brunswick County, NC
For more information on gardening in Brunswick County, please call the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension Office, 910.253.2610.

👉 Click here for a printable pdf version.

SOURCES:

Liatris | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
A Lazy Gardener Introduces New Garden Friends | Clemson University Cooperative Extension, Home and Garden Information Center