Liatris pilosa (Shaggy blazingstar)

Liatris pilosa, known as the shaggy blazingstar, is a stout species with fine upright foliage that blends in seamlessly with native grass. It is also called the grass-leaf blazingstar for this reason. It grows shorter and isn't immediately as showy as some other blazingstars, but is very drought tolerant, and no less ecologically beneficial.

 

Its spike-like vivid hot pink or lavender blooms are eye-catching and pair well with many yellow flowering perennials. Its bloom time corresponds well to the migration of monarch butterflies, which heavily favor Liatris blooms, as do many other pollinators. Liatris is a host species for several moths, including the Wavy-lined Emerald Moth, whose looper (inchworm) affixes pieces of flower petals to itself as camouflage!

 

In nature this species grows frequently where many other plants struggle, such as dry prairies and steep topography. It should be planted with other shorter species that won't outcompete and smother it, such as the numerous native grasses it occurs alongside: Andropogon ternarius (Splitbeard bluestem) and Andropogon virginicus (Broomsedge). The bloom colors pop with short goldenrods (Solidago pinetorum and Solidago nemoralis), Maryland goldenaster (Chrysopsis mariana), and Black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta and Rudbeckia fulgida).

 

Liatris pilosa prefers as much sun as it can get, but can be adaptable to part sun or dappled light. It prefers to grow in well drained, lean and low-nutrient soils, and if planted in loamy garden soils its stems may flop over without support. Planting densely with short native grasses can remedy this.

 

Liatris grow from underground corms rather than rhizomes, which clump and create a tight colony of stems. The corms produce a dense array of roots, which die back in winter and can help to improve surrounding soil. Corms can be dug up and divided periodically in the fall/winter.