Dense Blazing Star has long lasting purple wands of packed blooms that face all directions and bloom from the top of the stem down from midsummer to fall. The blooms resemble feather boas held upright on numerous spikes per plant. Although it lacks smell, Dense Blazing Star will please your other senses: the purple flowers add a visual exclamation point to the garden; your ears will be humming with the sound of delighted bees; and your fingers will love delving through the fuzzy late summer blossoms.
Pollinator
This plant is loved by pollinators! Bumblebees, long-horned bees, leaf-cutting bees, butterflies, and skippers pollinate the flowerheads. These insects feed on nectar, but some bees gather pollen for their larvae.
Quick Growing Guide
Botanical Name: Liatris spicata
Botanical Family: Asteraceae
Also Called: Marsh Blazing Star, Button Snakewort
En français: Liatris à épi
See More Plants in this Botanical Family:
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Dense Blazing Star is deer resistant.
Like its sister plants, the Rough Blazing Star and the Slender Blazing Star , it is a good candidate for a Pollinator garden.
Where to Use Dense Blazing Star
Dense Blazing Star is endemic to moist prairies, marsh regions, grassland savannahs, and wet places between sand dunes, meadows, and abandoned fields in Ontario and North America. This plant prefers open, sunny places that are kept open by fire, floods, drought, or grazing. It would be ideal for a cottage landscape, wildlife garden, or pollinator garden.
It also looks good as part of a cut flower arrangement.
Cultivars are available both with pink and white flowers and that reach height of 2 feet of 60 cms.
As a Houseplant and in Containers
Dense blazing star is an unusual but striking houseplant. In containers, consider using the shorter cultivar. They flourish in bright, long-lasting sunlight and should be positioned no more than one foot away from a window. In containers, it requires frequent watering and soil that drains well. Simply repot your plant every time it doubles in size; you shouldn’t need to apply fertiliser.
