Liatris is a flower native to North America. It belongs to the genus Asteraceae, also known as Compositae. Liatris is currently popular among gardeners, so planting and caring for it outdoors are frequently asked questions.
Features of the Liatris flower
This plant is quite compact and is often used by landscape designers to decorate gardens. This is due to its unique and attractive appearance, and the flowers exude a pleasant fragrance.
The plant is perennial, making it ideal for garden planting. The flower produces tubers that remain in the soil during the winter.
In terms of plant size, this flower reaches heights of 30 cm to 1.5 m during its active growth phase. It forms a compact bush, producing erect stems that bear fluffy inflorescences. The inflorescences can be lilac, white, red, or pink. The leaves are quite narrow and long, resembling needles.
Flower propagation options
This plant can reproduce in a variety of ways:
- tubers;
- rhizomes;
- elongated root crowns.
To grow a plant, you can purchase it from a specialized nursery or a store that sells flower seeds and seedlings. It's important to purchase high-quality planting material, as this will ensure the formation of a healthy plant capable of vigorous growth and flowering.
Flowering occurs in the summer. It lasts for quite a long time and is visually very impressive. The stalk is quite fluffy at the top, but gradually descends, forming a bright candle of fluffy hairs. Besides the distinctive flower, with its vibrant, rich colors, the plant's distinctive feature is its delicate fragrance. Its potency is due to the substance coumarin, which is found in liatris.
The scent is reminiscent of a mixture of vanilla and freshly cut grass.
Sowing the plant in the ground
Since the flower is quite unpretentious, both in care and in planting, it can be grown effortlessly by planting seeds directly in the soil.
Naturally, sowing should be done with consideration for the region. However, the main planting period is mid-spring; in some cases, it's planted in September or October.
When planting liatris from seeds, the following points must be taken into account:
- in order to ensure sufficient nutrient composition of the soil, it is necessary to dig up the soil and add humus;
- planting is carried out by simply scattering the seeds over the soil, followed by sprinkling them with a layer of soil, maximum 2 cm thick;
- You can also use a rake to plant the seeds, carefully going over the scattered seeds;
- then the soil should be sufficiently moistened by spraying.
If you plant liatris in open ground using seeds, you can quickly and easily get a beautiful garden decoration if you take care of the plant.
Sowing a plant using seedlings
For those eager to get beautiful liatris greenery on their lawn as quickly as possible, we recommend planting and caring for it in open ground. This method is suitable, for example, for growing in Siberia.
Here, spring arrives much later than in the central zone, so the seedling method will speed up the plant's growth process.
To do this you need to:
- at the end of February - beginning of March, plant the seeds in separate pots;
- plant the seeds to a depth of no more than 1 cm;
- Using a spray bottle or a sprinkler, moisten the soil well.
You may be interested in:Next, to ensure rapid germination of the plants, it's necessary to provide suitable conditions. This requires a sufficiently bright room and moderate watering of the soil as the root ball dries out.
Once the seedlings become more established, they need to be hardened off. To do this, they are brought outdoors during the day. This should be done under suitable weather conditions.
In May, when the weather has become more or less stable, the plant is transplanted into open ground. To do this, it needs to be moved around to avoid damaging the root system.
The method of propagation by means of shoots
When propagating by cuttings, it's essential to take root shoots. This method will ensure a healthy, full-grown plant fairly quickly.
To carry out this method of planting liatris, it is necessary to follow the following sequence of actions:
- carefully separate the shoot from the mother plant;
- it must be carefully selected so that it has its own well-developed root system;
- a hole about 20-25 cm deep is dug for each shoot;
- Next, you need to put humus at the bottom of the hole, filling the hole to approximately 20-25% of its full depth;
- then place the seedling in the hole so that it is deepened by 10-15 cm.
Planting liatris using tubers
You can also plant it there using a tuber. To do this, you need to divide the main tuber into several individual tubers.
Sequence of actions when planting tubers:
- a hole 10-12 cm deep is dug;
- you can put humus or manure on the bottom;
- find a small indentation on the tuber - a shoot will grow from this point;
- place the tuber in the hole, but so that the notch faces straight up;
- sprinkle some soil on top and water.
Seedlings appear in approximately 20-40 days, depending on temperature conditions and required humidity.
How to choose the right planting location
It's worth keeping in mind that liatris requires a certain amount of space to grow into a beautiful and vibrant plant. However, its requirements are very minimal.
To ensure the plant's comfort, simply choose either a sunny or shaded location. But most importantly, avoid low-lying areas with close groundwater levels.
It is also important to periodically add fertilizer in the form of humus or manure.
Irrigation scheme
The plant thrives in drier climates. Therefore, it will tolerate short-term droughts better than excessively waterlogged soil.
Overly wet soil negatively impacts the plant, causing its root system to rot. To avoid this, ensure a sufficiently thick drainage layer.
The plant should be watered sparingly, but frequently. This is better than watering infrequently but pouring a lot of water under one bush at once.
So, if the plant has already formed, then under one fairly tall bush in dry weather, when the soil dries out, you can add up to 10 liters of water per plant.
Proper care
The plant requires fertilization. Manure or compost is very suitable for this.
You can also use complex vitamin-mineral fertilizers. These are most often used during the active growing season and flowering period.
The process of hilling and mulching
It's important to remember that the plant's root system is quite close to the soil surface. Therefore, hilling can prevent the root system from becoming exposed.
If you don't want to hill the soil, you can simply mulch the area around the bush with peat. Peat will also retain moisture, preventing the soil from drying out too quickly. Incidentally, mulching allows you to water less frequently.
Staking and pruning Liatrix. The plant typically reaches 80 cm, but can sometimes reach 1 m. However, if provided with good conditions, it can reach up to 2 m. Sometimes the stems of the plant become drooping. To prevent the bush from becoming diseased, staking can be used. This is most often done using a special support. Stakeholders are installed between the stakes, allowing a string to be stretched between them to support the plant.
In order for a plant to successfully overwinter in the middle zone, the following conditions must be met:
- shoots must be cut off right at the root;
- There is no need to build a special shelter - the plant tolerates wintering well;
- To be completely sure that the flower will survive the winter, it is enough to cover the place where the tubers grow with dry leaves or a layer of humus about 10 cm thick.
Types of Liatrix and their appearance
Currently, the following types are most often used in garden landscape design:
- Liatris spicata.
The flower's inflorescence truly resembles a spikelet. The colors of this spikelet can be very diverse – white, pink, purple, red, violet, and lilac. The spikelet liatris reaches 1 m in height.
The main flowering period is June-July. At this time, the plants are at their most decorative, and the flowers are at their fullest and most double. The most common Liatrix varieties include Floristan Weiss, Floristan Violet, Kobold, Flamingo, Bengal, Blue Bird, Spiccato, Burning Star, and Picador.
- Liatris membranosa.
This plant is characterized by its shorter, more compact growth habit. Its foliage is broader and larger than that of the spicate liatris. However, its color range is more limited, ranging from pink to purple. The most common varieties of liatris membranosa include 'Alba' and 'September Glory.'
Liatris Alba requires planting and care in open ground, so it is best to reproduce it using ready-made seeds.
When comparing the Liatris spicata and alba varieties, they are similar. Planting and care in open ground are not very different.
Another variety of this beautiful plant is the rough variety. It is distinguished by its greater bush height, which can reach up to 2 meters. The color range of this variety is also limited, as with Liatris membranosa.
What can harm this plant?
If we talk about pests, then most likely the bush can be damaged by pests such as mole crickets, snails, and slugs.
As for diseases, the flower is most susceptible to gray or brown rot. To avoid this unpleasant affliction, it's necessary to use antifungal agents or folk remedies using mustard or iodine solutions.
If you provide this unpretentious plant with the minimum necessary care, it will delight its owners with magnificent double flowers that reach upward to the sky.
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