Hi everyone,
My 3 liatris ligulistylis are now beginning to bloom, and the verdict is in: the monarchs do love them! And today, I discovered that hummingbirds do, too!
A few other observations: they dislike having wet feet, and can get powdery mildew if things are too crowded or damp. They also get TALL, so staking might be a good idea.
I'm planting more next year for sure.
Update on Liatris ligulistylis: great monarch magnet!
All the liatris (Gayfeather) are loved by butterflies and other nectar-loving creatures. Some of the gayfeather are blooming here also....they attract so many butterflies!
Thanks for that info junebug and Linda. I swear I have wanted that plant for so long since reading about it on here. I ordered one plant mail order and it died immediately, I did order some seeds to try for next year and bought another mail order plant which I got yesterday. I am hoping for some luck with this one. Although when I got it in the mail all it looks like are a bunch of sticks sticking straight up, no leaves or anything. I also ordered a wild milkweed plant and when I got it it was two sticks sticking straight up, no leaves or anything. Hope I was not duped but I have ordered from these people before and it was okay. Anyway, I am praying this liatris makes it because I want this one so bad and want the Monarchs along with it. Wish me luck and congrats on yours. What color is yours Junebug? I guess color does not matter with these?
Leslie
It's kind of a fuschia-lavender...it's a toss-up between the liatris, asclepias incarnata, and the Mexican sunflower (both torch and fiesta del sol) for popularity among the monarchs. This is my first year with ANY kind of flowers in the yard, so I'm thrilled with the results! :-)
I don't blame you for being thrilled. I so want to get a Mexican sunflower as I have heard the BF's really like those. Are they hard to grow? I know they are beautiful and the BF's love them so you cannot go wrong. Unless they are hard to grow. LOL
Leslie
Hi Leslie,
I started mine from seed under lights inside about 6 weeks before my frost-free date. They got pretty big indoors, so I had to pot them up into larger pots. They're REALLY easy to grow! Just be sure you don't cover the seeds with soil (they need light to germinate); but once they're up, they're up. I planted the taller variety in two different areas, both with fairly poor soil. They loved one spot (are now about 8 or 9 feet tall and COVERED in blossoms), and topped out at 3.5 feet in the other spot. Still got flowers, though. I'm not sure what the difference was, as they got adequate sun in both spots. You might need to tie some of the side branches with twine if they get too big (some of mine snapped off!)
The smaller variety (fiesta del sol) got nice and bushy. Started with just four teeny leaves in late May, got attacked by earwigs, and still grew to about 3 feet tall with lots of pretty orange flowers.
Bottom line, I'm growing the big and small Mexican sunflowers every year. I've noticed that not only do the butterflies love them--the bumblebees and goldfinches do, too! (The goldfinches hang on the spent flowers and pick out the seeds).
Jess