The foliage will peek out of the ground in early spring and resemble grass. It will continue to grow through spring and in late summer should show itself with 1-5 ft spikes of white or purple blooms. They should not need any support or staking unless the soil is too rich or too sandy.

You need to plant Liatris in zones 3-9 with full sun exposure. They will survive in the poorest of soils. They will grow limp if planted in too rich of a soil.

The first year of growth you want to water regularly to help promote a strong root system. This is one plant that will do well in poor soils. It is a drought tolerant plant so it doesn’t require regular watering once established in the garden after the first year.

Liatris will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. This is a very important plant to have in your garden due to the beneficial insects it will attract. They make a lovely cut flower and can be used for dried flower arrangements.  You don’t need to prune this plant. However, if you do cut the flowers be sure to leave foliage to sustain the standing plant.

You can run into a few disease problems with liatris. Pests don’t seem to bother the plant. Liatris can be plagued with root/stem rot, rust disease, leaf spots, powdery mildew, and wilt. To prevent these you have to be sure to space the plants properly so they get proper air circulation. Take care not to over water the plant once they are established. Place the plant in a full sun area. Treat the plants with fungal treatments if needed. Each early spring always cut back old foliage so the new growth will have a clean area to begin growing in. 

If you plant liatris from seed it could take up to two years to see your blooms just so you know. I found it better to choose the roots. If you decide to plant the roots let me give you a tip. It has been known that many new gardeners have planted these suckers upside down resulting in no plant at all. If you look at the root you purchase you’ll notice one end looks more like thin thread, more stringy then the other end. The stringy end is the bottom of the root.

Liatris can be divided in the spring when the green foliage is peeking through the ground but you must be sure that each part divided has an eye attached in the root system in order to survive the division.

It will be the easiest plant you will have ever planted in your garden. Go on and plant it, you won’t regret it! I didn’t.