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Liatris is a joyful, summer-blooming perennial that you may also know by the name blazing star. If you’re looking to brighten your garden with a burst of energy and cheer, liatris may be just what you need.
I was lucky to inherit a few blazing star plants in our foundation gardens when we moved into our home, and I was completely fascinated by them right from the start. You may also know this easy-to-grow herbaceous perennial by the common name “gayfeather”. The grass-like foliage emerges quietly in the late spring and then tall spikes of showy purple stalk blooms burst upward in July. Liatris really is pure joy in flower form. I’ve divided and transplanted my liatris plants quite a few times and have consequently learned quite a bit about gardening with this energetic perennial flower. It’s in bloom right now, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you all about it if you haven’t yet been introduced to liatris, and show you a few photos of the plants I have growing in my perennial gardens.
What is Liatris?
Liatris is summer-flowering perennial plant native to the Eastern United States and Canada. It grows quite prolifically in the U.S., but in Canada, its native growing areas are restricted exclusively to Southwestern Ontario, with most of the plants being found in tall grass prairies in Walpole Island First Nation, which is actually only about 20 minutes from our home. So growing this native plant in our garden here locally is quite special, I think.
You can find liatris varieties with bright purple blooms as well as white and they grow to about 1-3 feet tall in clumps about 1-2 feet wide at most. While most of the excitement of growing liatris happens in peak summer heat, during early to late July, one of the things I love most about it is the winter interest it provides in my garden. The sturdy spikes fade to a fuzzy grey-brown color, but remain upright quite happily until later winter, and they look lovely poking out from the snow along with the other dried grasses and faded hydrangea blooms that are left at that time of year.
Another favorite garden plant for butterflies and pollinator insects: How to Grow Amazing Lavender in Your Garden
Where to Grow Liatris
Other than its native growing areas, there are many other places where liatris will thrive in a perennial garden setting. Gardeners living in USDA hardiness zone 3-9 can add this happy, upright plant to perennial borders or meadow gardens with great success. This plant prefers full sun, but does almost as well in part shade and can brighten a part of your yard that might look a little dull during certain parts of the day.
Because of its height and well-defined floral spikes, this perennial flower is perfect in the middle of a border to bridge the space between lower growing plantings and taller grasses and shrubs.
Planting Blazing Star
Liatris can be planted as corms in the spring, or as full perennial plants at any time of year when the ground is workable.
To plant the corms, dig a small hole about two to three inches deep, and place the corm in the hole with the pointed or sprouting side facing up. You’ll want to plant the corms about 12-18″ apart to give them space to grow and mature. Cover the corms and water them in well to give them a good start.
If you buy your blazing star as a potted perennial, or if you’re lucky enough to have a neighbour split their liatris and give you a clump to propagate, simply dig a hole in your garden that will be big enough to fit the root ball. Place your liatris in the hole so that it is level with the ground and fill in around the root ball with soil.
Gardening tricks for beautiful summer blooms: How to Fix Leggy Petunias and Make Them Look Fuller
Watering Needs, Light Requirements, and Possible Pests
Blazing star is an incredibly drought-tolerant plant, but it does show signs of dehydration when it’s had a little too much sun and not enough water. After a few very hot, dry days, you’ll start to notice the flower spikes drooping just a bit and that’s your sign to water your gardens. If liatris is showing signs of needing water, then everything else definitely does as well. Once you’ve given your liatris a good drink, you’ll see the spikes stand straight up again within a few hours.
Liatris prefers full sun and well-drained soil, but will tolerate part shade quite nicely. If you have an area of you garden that is quite shaded and dull for part of the day, liatris will brighten it right up. Plants grown in part shade will usually only reach about 8-10″ in diameter, from my experience, whereas plants grown in full sun and with more soil depth will reach a mature size of 15-18″ across.
Liatris is quite pest resistant and you won’t find a lot of destructive insect activity on your plants, but they will be very attractive to pollinators in your area. One pest that you may need to watch out for is rabbits, who seem to find liatris leaves and stems to be absolutely delicious. Any plants that I have growing near our bunnies’ usual path to the area under the large boxwood shrub seem to get nibbled on a regular basis, however the plants that are a little removed from that area by just a few feet are left alone. If you find that rabbits are a problem for your liatris plants, you can try the same method as what you would use to keep bunnies from eating tulips.
Cheerful, fast-growing ground cover for part to full shade: How to Grow Creeping Jenny as a Perennial
Companion Plants for Liatris
Liatris looks beautiful paired with other summer blooming perennial flowers like purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, hostas, and lavender. It also works beautifully with short and medium height ornamental grasses like blue fescue.
Because liatris blooms in mid-to-late summer, another strategy is to use it to fill in the gaps in your garden between the time after spring flowers like salvia, alliums, and daisies are in bloom, and when the fall blooming asters come into play. This strategy is particularly kind to pollinators, and also gives your garden a bit of summer color if you typically grow mostly spring-blooming plants.
I enjoy the pop of happy color that liatris brings to my front garden just as my “incrediball” hydrangea blooms start to fade in July, but before my giant panicle hydrangea is in full bloom in August.
Do you grow liatris in your garden? What do you have growing next to it?
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.