Liatris cylindricea forms an upright clump, putting up stalks with numerous fluffy, showy, rose purple flowerheads growing in rounded upright racemes. Leaves are narrow and grass-like, up to 10" long, shortening as they ascend the stems. Native to dry upland prairies, rocky uplands, limestone glades and barrens, and sand flats, from Minnesota east to Ontario and New York, south to Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Shorter than other members of the Liatris genus, and blooming earlier, it is hardy and low maintenance. Well placed in rock gardens, or massed in cottage and native gardens, where it is a bright and airy addition with dramatic form for mid- to late summer interest.
This species, also known as dwarf blazing star and cylindrical blazing star, thrives in sunny, well-drained, sandy or rocky, limey soils. It tolerates drought but not wet soils. It is low maintenance, easy to grow, and quick to establish though doing in areas with large deer or rabbit populations may be challenging. The root consists of a corm, which may occasionally produce offshoots that can be divided. However, it spreads more readily by seed—even enthusiastically so under ideal circimstances. It may be outcompeted in richer soils by taller, more aggressive plants. Pest and disease resistant, but subject to grazing by herbivores. In Zones 3 and 4, winter mulching is advised.
Space plants 10"-12" on center.
For that spot that bakes in the summer and has excellent drainage (think rocky driveway edge or limestone glade), plant Ontario blazing star with Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama), Allium cernuum (nodding onion), Opuntia humifusa (eastern prickly pear), Oenothera speciosa (pinkladies), and Manfreda virginica (false aloe).
Writing in the Minnesota Tribune in 1911 on the blooming Minnesota virgin prairies, Eloise Butler said " . . . Prominent in the riot of color and beauty of design are the liatras (sic) or blazing stars, with their flower heads loosely arranged in slender wands, or in slender compact spikes, sometimes over a foot in length. The flowers might be mistaken for thistles, but they have no stabbing prickles. Other popular names, as gay feather and button snakeroot, show the esteem with which the plants are held." The specific epithet, cylindracea, describes the cylindrical shape of the flowerhead.
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Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
AL, AR, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NY, OH, TN, WI |
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons |
Subclass | Asteridae | |
Order | Asterales | |
Family | Asteraceae | Aster family |
Genus | Liatris | blazing star |
Species | Liatris cylindracea | Ontario blazing star |
Ontario blazing star, dwarf blazing star, cylindrical blazing star, cylindric blazing star, barrelhead gayfeather, slender blazing star, Ontario liatris, Ontario gayfeather, dwarf gayfeather, dwarf liatris
Lacinaria cylindracea
Sizes info
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.