Gayfeather
Liatris spicata
Also known as 'Dense Gayfeather' and 'Blazingstar', the plants grow twenty-four to forty-eight inches tall with tall spikes of purple flowers. Blooms from July to mid August. It is a native plant from Long Island, New Tork to Michigan, south to Florida and Louisiana and prefers moist areas, meadows, borders of marshes, savannas, damp slopes, wet-mesic prairies, in neutral to slightly acid soil.
Sow seeds in full to partial sun, and in areas with moist to moderately moist soils. Tolerates a combination of heat and humidity and is excellent as a cutflower, plus it attracts butterflies and seed-eaters. A perennial plant in zones 3-10.
Gayfeather can have seed dormancy issues so moist chilling the seed for two to three weeks to break dormancy is recommended. Each packet contains 0.25 gram, which is approximately 75 seeds.
