Liatris? Does Anyone grow them?!

Hi, everybody--

I have had such good luck growing Liatris 'Kobold' and Liatris 'Spicata' (Gayfeather) this summer that I was thinking of trying other kinds...Does anyone grow the taller, later blooming kinds? Or 'Violette'? Or, 'Alba'? I would like to have continuous bloom from late June until mid-September...

The butterflies seem to love them, as do the gold finches...they look striking with the daylilies and daisies, and all the neighbors ask about them...still the different varieties are hard to find around here...I planted my first ones from Corms found at Home Depot, other than those kinds, I haven't seen plants or other corms available...can you recommend good corm/bulb sources for the rarer kinds?

Thanks. t.

I would like to know that same source. I just love them, I only have the 2 that you have. The thing I like the most about them is that I started with 4 plants in one border about 4 years ago and now they are in 5 different beds. I have never divided them, the squirrels do. I never know where they will pop up, if I don't like where it is I just move it while it's small. Every fall since I have had them the squirrels dig up a few corms and plant them all over, they have never taken enough to disturb the original clumps. Chuck

I have the white form of this too and it seeds itself. It is right next door to the purple one out in my cutting garden and so I never know the color of the seedling till it blooms. This stuff really dries great too.

I heard that if you plant seeds it will take two years to bloom?...

I don't know about the two years but they are fairly prolific here.

I allow mine to self seed for the goldfinches (last year was the last for most of THAT since I have an overabundance now) and they do take 2 years. The first year they just put up a few short leaves and sort of stay that way the whole season. But then, watch out!

I wish mine would grow. It's trying its best, but the bunnies seem to particularly like to eat it. :-(

Liatris! I love the stuff! Last year I got a a dozen as "gift" in one of my plant orders in early spring. I thought to myself 'Yeah, right! These are really going bloom for me?" I planted them in spite of my misgivings about a 'freebie'.

Much to my surprise, they not only grew...they BLOOMED! And not only did they bloom, they were beautiful! And the butterflies and bees and hummingbirds were drawn to them in droves.

When I plucked out my glads (planted right next to the liatris) I couldn't resist doing a little experimentation. I wanted to see what had transpired under the ground with the Liatris...so I dug down to take a look. I found that each of the bulbs had 'manufactured' lots of little bulblets.

Well, being a curious person at heart, I decided to take my experiment a little further. I dug up those two original bulbs (along with their progeny) and plunked them down in a different area of my garden. I figured what the heck. If I lost them, I lost them...no biggie, they were 'free' anyway.

My surprise came this spring when I discovered that not only had those two bulbs survived, but I now had 14 stalks of Liatris growing from the two originals! Those little bulblets must have matured under the soil because ALL of the liatris have bud stalks beginning to bloom right now!

Another note on moving them. This spring I had to dig up the remaining 10 original bulbs and move them out of the way for some new construction. I honestly figured I'd probably kill them. Nope! They have multiplied to the same extent as the ones I moved in the fall.

Last year...my first year ever for collecting and trying to grow my own seedlings...I collected several bloom stalks with mature seeds. I used the winter sowing method (in covered containers outside in the snow). This spring I had a gazillion seedlings. I don't know for sure, since I've never grown them from seed, but I've read that it takes at least 2 years to bloom.

I may try digging up another of the mature bulbs this fall and taking a few of the bulblets and planting them away from their parents...just to see if they'll bloom next year. I don't know why they wouldn't. It's a cinch the little guys did a wonderful job THIS year!

This year I did buy some bulbs of the white variety...I'm just hoping they'll perform as well as the blue ones have.

Thanks for letting me tell you about *my* favorite 'freebie'. ;-)

~julie~

Well, I love Liatris, too, and I can't understand why everbody who grows coneflowers and daisies and the like for a summer garden doesn't put in a few liatris. They are like 'no dollars' at HD at the bulb closeouts and you just stick them in the ground an inch or two below the surface *and* then they Multiply.

Now, pins knows my other 'curiosity' flower that I'm wanting to add to my summer garden is 'knifophia'--here's the link to the discussion we are having about it:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/528166/

Knifophia has become wildly popular in the UK and Europe (I think because of Christopher Lloyd' books and also because K. are native to South Africa, formerly a British Colony), but virtually ignored here...

I think they would be wonderful in a Summer Bird and Butterfly garden with daisies various, liatris various, butterfly weed, phystogeia, etc...I would leave out the coneflowers since I am generally not fond of them! (-:

not a great pic of our liatris, but you can get an idea...

Will liatris rebloom after the initial flowering?

No, each stalk blooms only once and each corm sends up only one stalk, it seems. So you can't even pinch or prune to make it bushier. But because the blooms open from the top down, it takes at least couple of weeks for each stalk to bloom completely.

Tracy D.-Aust, of "Well-tended Perennial..." says something about deadheading when the bloom is about 75% finished and the plant will probably grow new (shorter) bloom stems for late summer blooms.

Mine have made a modest second growth when the weather has been agreeable.

I love liatris and knifofia to. I grow spicata and alba and they are a lovely contrast with Oriental lilies and phlox, as well as coneflowers and daisies(I love your rudbeckias with them in the pic). A friend of mine has them naturalized all over his property. The soil is hard, dry, rocky clay and they grow better than grass, so he's turned it into a wildflower meadow. He's filled in with rudbeckias, coreopsis, and butterfly weed and the colors and forms are beautiful together.

gemini--I'm so glad to hear you grow liatris and knifophia and like them both! You must have a very 'daring' garden. And your friend's meadow sounds stupendous! I can't even imagine a field of liatris, daisies various, and butterfly weed. Must be so wonderful.

Don't you wish the State Highway Departments would grow such a combination along the roadways so we could all enjoy them? Well, maybe they do in KY, but not in OH. There is not one ounce of creativity in the Highway Department here! So sad. (At least in North Carolina they grow lots of daylilies along the roads.)

I am still researching Knifophia...saw some at the garden center today, but they looked anemic....

If I remember correctly, in North Carolina, at least near the welcome stations, they also grow beautiful cannas. Such a gorgeous state.

Yes, I do believe NC has beautiful canna displays...I remember seeing them on our return last year from the sea shore...BTW isn't their state flower the 'daylily'?

I saw five different kinds of liatris stocked at our local 'plant farm'---they had about a hundred 'kobold' in high bloom still in stock, so I guess nobody has been buying them...

They are still blooming in my garden...

tabasco, I came back from vacation to find this lily combo with my liatris. I'll take a wider pic to show how my front yard "meadow" looks with loads of liatris, buddleia, echinacea, and cosmos. The bees and butterflies love it.

How could you bear to go on vacation with your 'meadow' garden blooming with beautiful lilies?!!!

Can't wait to see your wide angle pic. Don't delay!

Purchased three other (rarer) kinds of liatris at the July sale this week. Will get my camera back in action and take some pics later today.

The pics just aren't doing the "meadow" justice. They're too wide to get the details of the individual flowers and still show the variety of flowers. Maybe later when the sun is brighter or late today when the western sun is at my back they'll be better.

I can't wait to see your pics. I've not delved into any rarer varieties; but the natives I have do so well, I'd like to get more. The deer don't even seem to bother the ones in the drainfield, which is outside the fence.

My vacation planning this year was really bad for garden enjoyment, both ornamental and food-wise. I'm only home for a couple of days and then gone again for 2 weeks. So I'll miss out on LOTS of tomatoes, blackberries, peaches, all my faves. But my neighbors and pet sitter will be well-fed! LOL I didn't have any choice on dates, though. So, better luck next year.

Mickgene: You must vacation somewhere fabulous if you can bear being away from that garden! Liatris look so great !

And send some peaches my way. No vacation for me, so I'll have to console myself with peach upside down cake. LOL...

mmmmmm! Peach upside-down cake. I also like peach gingerbread for breakfast!