Liatris spicata
Kansas gayfeather, blazing star, and spike gayfeather: this perennial of the American prairies has a feature that confounds every gardener the first time—the flower spikes bloom from top to bottom, the opposite of almost all other plants with flowering stems. A detail that makes it instantly recognizable.
Characteristics:
-
Feathery spikes: long, dense pink-purple flower stems, very upright, from midsummer through autumn.
-
Long-lived perennial: a single well-established plant can produce up to twenty flowering stems within three years.
-
Very hardy: native to the eastern and central United States, it withstands our winters without difficulty.
Sowing advice:
-
Exposure: full sun, essential for keeping the flower stems upright.
-
Soil: ordinary, light, well-drained soil that remains cool in summer. This is the balance to maintain: it appreciates summer moisture, but its underground organ rots in waterlogged soil during winter. In heavy soil, plant it on a slight mound. Avoid excessive fertilization.
-
Method: 4 to 6 weeks of cold stratification significantly improves germination. Then sow in spring, in pots or directly in the ground, covering lightly. Patience: flowering generally occurs in the second year.
Care advice:
- Water during dry periods in the first year. After that, it manages well on its own.
- Do not cut it back too early in autumn: the dry spikes remain decorative and provide food for birds.
Harvesting advice:
- For fresh bouquets, cut the stem when the upper third has opened. For drying, harvest at full bloom and hang upside down in the shade.
Beneficial pairings:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- It is one of the best butterfly plants for the summer garden: its nectar-rich spikes attract large numbers of butterflies and bumblebees over a long period.
- Its tufted seeds feed goldfinches in autumn if the stems are left in place.
Uses:
- Flower beds and borders, where it adds rare vertical interest. An excellent cut flower, fresh or dried, and highly sought after by florists.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave the faded spikes to dry completely on the plant until they become covered with fluffy tufts, then thresh them over a container, sheltered from the wind. See storing your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, carefully sorted and packaged, with no chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to sow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Bring elegant vertical interest to your flower beds with these Kansas gayfeather seeds.
