Meadow blazing star
Liatris ligulistylis · Asteraceae
Tall stems studded with separate, shaggy, rose-purple buttons, opening from the top down in late summer.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 16 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around meadow blazing star
The planner designed this bed around meadow blazing star when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why meadow blazing star stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Meadow blazing star × 3, purple
- 2 Winter heath × 11, pink
- 3 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 12, blue
- 4 Pale purple coneflower × 5, pink
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Red valerian × 3, pink
- 7 Grape hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only purple.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to red valerian (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 8 weeks. From late July to mid September.
- Closes the season. In its last week nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 28 of the 35 plants (80%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The back corners are held by meadow blazing star and pale purple coneflower, the tallest plants on the plan. Pink runs through the planting: 3 of the 6 kinds grown for their flowers have it.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where meadow blazing star goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The best monarch butterfly plant there is: on migration they choose it over everything else. Goldfinches take the seed. It prefers a little more moisture than other blazing stars.
- Monarch butterflies
- Prairie and meadow planting
- Tall, slender accents
What to plant with meadow blazing star
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for seven weeks, from late July.
- Showy goldenrod: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks.
Questions about meadow blazing star
Does meadow blazing star need sun or shade?
Meadow blazing star grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does meadow blazing star grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does meadow blazing star flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 5 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Mid July to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should meadow blazing star be planted?
14 in (35 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 16 in (40 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many meadow blazing star plants do I need?
At 14 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 9 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 9 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 28 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is meadow blazing star poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat meadow blazing star?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after meadow blazing star?
Meadow blazing star is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall.
What does meadow blazing star look like in winter?
Meadow blazing star dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is meadow blazing star good for bees and butterflies?
Meadow blazing star is visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Liatris
- Blazing star Liatris spicata
- Blazing star 'Kobold' Liatris spicata 'Kobold'
- Prairie blazing star Liatris pycnostachya
- Rough blazing star Liatris aspera
In these guides
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 16 in (40 cm) wide
- Plant
- 14 in (35 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September; upright spires; purple, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- W. Central & Central Canada to W. Central U.S.A
- Attracts
- Butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Drought, heat, humidity
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.