Bulbs: Liatris, 1 by tabasco

tabasco wrote:
Hi, pennefeather,

I have grown liatris spicata (kobold) from bulbs/corms for the past several years. I planted these in the garden in springtime and they came up late but OK. I also purchased plants at the garden center at end of season sales.

I think if you started the bulbs early in pots indoors that would give them a head start. You wouldn't necessarily have to use heat mats unless you really wanted to speed things up. My spicatas bloom for about 2 weeks.

You could try planting a few bulbs in pots for earlier bloom and others right in the ground outside and that would give you a staggered bloom sequence. One year I planted the bulbs in the fall--some rotted through the winter, others came up. Some people find them invasive year to year, but my garden tends to be damp through the year and the bulbs often succumb to that.

I try to do a little staggering for a longer bloom season since I love them in my summer garden. I also have 4 other kinds of liatris but they are more 'wild flowery' and not commonly seen available for sale in garden centers.

I have read that liatris spicata take three years to grow from seed. I suppose if you used heat mats and grow lights you could shorten that cycle.

I think liatris are becoming more 'fashionable' for the summer garden these days. And the gold finches love them.