I have never had either room or moisture enough to grow these....but have been ordering seeds for both purple and white now I have damp woodland/streamside edges to colonise
Are yours from seed? Easy to grow?

I purchased live plants and bulbs. The bulbs were planted in the summer last year.

Love them.

Reliable and very easy maintenance here.

Have always bought live plants.

'Kobold' is a striking colour.

I love these too but they never eem to overwinter for me. Can't be a zone thing because everyone has them. I must keep putting them in a bad spot.

Since I have none this year, please feel free, everyone, to post pics of yours so I can enjoy! :)

Dee

The one there was planted over 5 years ago.
(Picture: July 27, 2013)

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Tue, Jun 24, 14 at 22:27

Campanula, You need to get seed for Liatris pycnostachya They are tougher plants and do not need irrigation and will grow in sand but do well with frequent rainfall and sandy soil. These seeds are available from Native American seed. If you want something more Xeric, I have a bunch of the punctata seed from TxRanger and I can collect the Liatris muncronata in fall. These plants are tuff cookies.

Here is the description from the Native American Seed Sitesite

Sometimes called Blazing Star in the northern regions, this beauty is found thru out the tallgrass prairies. We found this perennial growing in thick stands on damp sandy clay near the Katy prairies. If you live in an area of sandy, well-drained soils and get frequent rainfall, you'll want to plant this species rather than the Liatris mucronata. This one is adapted to 30-40" rainfall areas of Texas' coastal bend, north thru the blacklands and open bottomlands of the Piney Woods." ( actually , the piney woods often get 50- 55")

I kept my seed outside in the bag in the winter time and forgot to plant them to cold stratify, but then I read that in nature they cold stratify on the stalks and can be planted in warmth. I did and they are coming up very well.

I planted bulbs this spring and have had buds for about a week. Are they ever going to open?

SunnyBorders: I love the color combination!

I planted seeds of GF 2 weeks ago yesterday, I still am not seeing any sign of a sprout. . . do they usually take that long or should I start over? Thanks

Did you cold stratify the seed or kept them outside during the winter? Mine popped up within a week. If you did't, it might take longer.

Hi Mara - yep, have been perusing Native American Seeds (some of the daisies!) and have a wee list (ipomopsis, callirhoe, malvaviscus - although I found a UK source for the pink wax mallows - 4 measly seeds but still....) - waiting to hear if they ship to the UK.

Am not even remotely in seed collecting mode (yet) but will surely be hoping to do a few swapsies. Any ideas what sort of things you are wanting?

I am collecting Ipomopsis , callirhoe and calylophos berlandieri for you, Campanula. so get other stuff. Unless you are looking for Lbs. of them. I will have you GOBS of ipomopsis. Those are SO easy to collect and they are drying up as I type. I have two 3 ' wands of solid seed capsules lying in the car right now.I also have my eyes on some yellow stuff. I can collect the malvaviscus for you. Maybe even dome giant mexican turks cap. besides the texas . I just bought some of them and should get some bloom late.shouldone. They grow all around me. The callirhoe is harder and fewer to collect but I will have some , and maybe three varieties of them.

Thanks SG24.

You know how it is; part intent, part luck!

I love liatris but haven't grown any before. Such cool architecture. What is the foliage like when the blooms fade?

Don't notice it, GH, though I always deadhead the plant after flowering.

Sowing info says sow in fall 1-3 months cold strat.

I think I have 3 kinds. M. pychnostachya, punctata & aspera but I'm not sure. Its hard for me to distinguish some of the varieties. One type is from Kansas and these are shorter, the other was growing wild in sticky red clay in Oklahoma, it has very long bloom stems and the third was from wantanamara which I think is L. aspera? It has blooms that are spaced out along the stems rather than in a tight formation & it blooms in early August, the other two bloom in fall. All are rugged hardy plants with very stiff stems and thin rough olive green leaves. If the soil is too rich or wet, they snake along the ground in a weird way. There are so many types each with different growing preferences so no matter what the conditions, there is a liatris you can grow.

I'm not familiar with these early blooming types, I understand they are taller and thirstier. Maybe its L. spicata? The leaves look more 'tame', greener and thicker. The plants are 3ft tall. Perhaps this is a tall grass prairie native and the others are native to dry short grass prairies? Anyone know?

My sister bought some corms at Walmart one year. These bloomed very early and got real tall, the leaves were lush and green. They are not like any native from around here, it looked more like the ornamental types flower arrangers use in bouquets and was less wild looking.

As far as the foliage on mine is concerned after they bloom, thats about the time when temps are dropping and stuff is shutting down for fall so its not a factor. They are very ornamental in summer and winter due to the structure and texture of the plant. I strip mine when they get very dry to keep them from seeding everywhere which is difficult since I like the looks of them dried out among grasses. I end up with quart sized bags stuffed with seed.

campanula, This is how tenacious the prairie liatris are, there is no way it will die from lack of moisture once established:

SunnyBoarder your garden is beautiful!

Thanks Glen,

It's a combined effort; the plants and me.

Thanks SunnyBorders!

Cool graphic, TexasRanger.