It was over 8 feet tall (!!!) and had white petals and pink stamens.
My best guess is a neat ecotype of "Liatris Aspera" [Button/Rough Blazing Star], but the colors and height are different than any I've ever known/heard about.
Honestly, it was the most beautiful Liatris I've ever seen and it was just so shockingly tall.
I found it – in all places – in the median of a freaking parking lot (full of nothing but other natives plants – no cultivars).
Some bastards poached the OG big beauty this fall – so it's gone forever, unfortunately. But I was able to save some seeds from its children that I plan to baby to life this winter/spring.
by Wings_For_Pigs
4 Comments
I think this is rough blazingstar liatris aspera which has a lovely white and pink color, just through natural variation.
Very cool that the parking lot medians had natives!
Just imagine if all businesses utilized those spaces for natives!
Post it on iNaturalist and see if the nerds over there can help you figure it out. I love this one though! Looks kind of like a cross between meadow blazing star and pink scale blazing star.
Spectacular! I hope you get some tall ones from the seeds.