Dense Blazing Star

By LYNN ARTZ and SANDY TEDDER

Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) is a tall, slender wildflower with a feathery, rose-purple flower spike. This beautiful native attracts many butterflies and native bees with its fall blooms. Dense blazing star grows 4-7 feet tall in full sun and moist to wet soil. Dramatic in a mass planting, it works well in a mixed planting with other tall plants that can support the plant and keep it upright. This liatris is found naturally in mesic to wet flatwoods, savannas, ditches, and bogs. It is also called spiked blazing star, marsh blazing star, dense gayfeather, and marsh gayfeather. Dense blazing star is one of four liatris species found at Sopchoppy Depot Park. It is blooming now in the park’s wildflower meadow and along the pond edge.