Still Got the Blues

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Juniper Level Botanic Garden

Earlier we posted photos of wild collected Amsonia tabernaemontana, so here is a closely related species that’s been hopelessly mixed Amsonia tabernaemontana, thanks to mothball-sniffing herbarium botanists. Amsonia glaberrima is a gulf coast species that’s actually quite different…smooth leaves for a start, and different habit and flowering time. Here is our garden selection grown from a seed collection in east Texas. This is a truly exceptional plant, so I expect we’ll get our propagation staff to tackle this after flowering.

A Blues Star

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Juniper Level Botanic Garden

Just snapped this photo of the amazing Amsonia ‘Storm Cloud’ in the garden. This was a 2011 discovery in Central Alabama on a botanizing trip with Hans Hansen.

Got the blues? If not, we can help.

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Juniper Level Botanic Garden

Amsonia (aka: bluestar) are one of the best temperate genera (18 species) of blue-flowered perennials for the spring garden. We’ve offered quite a few different species and selections through the years, rotating them in and out as propagation successes allow and as sales dictate. All but two of the species, (Amsonia orientalis from Europe and Amsonia elliptica from Asia) are North American natives. Most are extremely drought tolerant, while others like Amsonia rigida and Amsonia tabernaemontana can tolerate very wet soils.

Amsonia montana is a commonly grown plant of mystery, having just appeared in horticulture, but never been documented from a wild population. A few of the amsonia species have flowers so pale blue that they appear white in the garden with only a hint of blue on the flower corolla. Amsonia are quite promiscuous in the garden, so if you grow more than one species nearby, you will have hybrids from seed. We hope you’ll explore this amazing genus of perennials.