Blazing Star or Slender Gayfeather
Liatris gracilis

Found nearly throughout Florida, this is a real treat to come across during a walk in the woods.

It is usually found in pine flatwoods and can tolerate short periods of flooding. It is hard to match the other scrub (very dry soil) adapted blazing stars with our moist, often irrigated urban soils without the roots rotting.

A slight amount of moisture in the soil is best although irrigation is not usually needed. The spikes of purple blooms shoot up to two or more feet tall in the late summer and last for several weeks. The plant will die back to the enlarged root and disappear for the winter. Look for grassy foliage in the spring and mulch around it.

Since this is a clumping plant, it can be mixed with other clumping or low wildflowers or grasses.

Try mixing with mimosa, beach verbena, blackeye susan, salvia, love grass, rattlesnake master, wild petunia, twinflower and Florida lily.