Gayfeather Blazing Star Seed
- Top-down purple flowering creates a distinctive prairie silhouette
- Four-foot spikes thrive in moist-to-average garden soils
- Nectar-rich blooms attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds
- Tall stems make striking, long-lasting cut flowers
Key Attributes
About Gayfeather, Blazing Star Seed, Blazing Star Seed
The Gayfeather Liatris is an excellent variety at attracting butterflies, bees and hummingbirds and matures to 4' in wet to mesic soil conditions. Like many Liatris species, when it begins to bloom it starts at the top and works its way down. This is an excellent Liatris species to plant in wet-medium prairies and perennial gardens and it makes to be a perfect cut flower.
Growing details
Plant profile
Seed & variety
Before Planting
Planting
Watering
Fertilizer
Harvesting
Tips
Pests & Diseases
Blazing star is usually trouble-free in dry ground. Persistently wet crowns invite Sclerotinia or other stem and root rots, while leaf spots and powdery mildew appear occasionally. A suddenly collapsing stem with cottony growth should be removed. Favor lean, draining soil and divide dense clumps before their centers deteriorate.
Leafhoppers and aphids feed on blazing star stems, thrips enter flower spikes, and Japanese beetles may chew blooms. Inspect the upper spike before cutting and remove beetles by hand during cool mornings. Control nearby weeds and remove plants with abnormal green flowers suggestive of aster yellows.
Native States & Regions
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Native regions: Appalachia, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast
Its Role in the Native Ecosystem
Gayfeather’s flowering spikes provide food for bees and butterflies. Mature seeds can feed birds, while some moth larvae use blazing star flowers, seeds or stems. Leaving part of the planting standing preserves more of these ecological connections than cutting every spike for flowers or removing all spent growth.
Gayfeather Blazing Star Native Range Map
Native range describes natural occurrence, not the origin of this seed lot or every location where a plant can be grown.
Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets. State-level range does not mean a plant occurs throughout every part of that state.
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