Liatris Envy

Last year, a neighbor across the street exchanged some plants with me. She gave up some of her lavender Liatris in return for some red cosmos plants that she admires every year. Her liatris was spreading and was being pulled up and thrown away. My cosmos come up from seed every year and always require thinning out, too.

I planted the litaris in the spring after it bloomed for her last year, and took care of it throughout the summer. This spring, it responded with a showy display of rather large 2 feet tall flower spikes looking like toilet bowl bristles. This week the neighbor remarked how good my liatris looked compared to her plants. She reasoned that this was due to the fact that my garden received more sun than her plants got. Maybe, but maybe someone is a better gardner.