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| 6/19/13 A. tabernaemontana |
Amsonia hubrichtii
Amsonia tabernaemontana
Amsonias come up late in spring. Dark green foliage turns yellow in fall. These like full sun, and will tolerate some shade but will have fewer flowers. I leave amsonias standing in winter, after fall's yellow show the foliage is tan in winter and rustles.
In early spring I cut them back to the ground, then they take their time coming up.
Because they have such full presence in the garden, remain standing over winter, and they take a while to reach maturity I think of them as shrubs.
Here are the three varieties I have, in bloom:
'Blue Ice' is more compact and clump forming than other amsonias and won’t get floppy. Quite small, only a foot high. Flowers are darker blue, almost a royal blue or purple, and they really cover the plant densely in spring. Fall color is a light, soft buff color.
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| 6/1/13 A. 'Blue Ice' is a deep blue that works well in a mixed planting |
Amsonia hubrichtii is the one with feathery foliage. It gets quite large. It is flowing and fine textured, with glorious golden fall color. Handle the stems carefully, they exude a sticky white sap. Flowers are very pale blue and a little sparse and brief.
This must be cut back to keep it from flopping and to shape it into a nice foliage mound by the front walk. Cut the stems by 6" after flowering.
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| 5/14/12 A. hubrichtii |
Amsonia tabernaemontana also gets very large. Small lance shaped leaves and a loose habit make these clumps elegant. They wave in the breeze, and the plant is full of movement. Fall color is tan. Flowers are light blue stars, kind of brief in late May but a decent show. I have a mini "hedge" of three of these at the north corner of the house. The light has to be right to capture the soft blue of their blooms, otherwise they do look washed out.
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| 5/28/13 A. tabernaemontana has subtle blue stars. |
Amsonias usually have good yellow fall color.
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| 10/25/10 I liked this fall combo of 'Blue Ice', the red fleeceflower below it, and the dark maroon doublefile viburnum above. |
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| A. hubrichtii 10/29/2010 It has never looked quite this brilliant since. |
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| A. tabernaemontana 11/13/10 Always more refined than the other two amsonias. |
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| 'Blue Ice' 5/30/11 |
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| A. tabernaemontana 5/31/11 |
The amsonias flower for just a brief time, and it's hard to get a picture in good light in just the few days they blooms last. Blue Ice blooms later, and longer, and the flowers area a deeper blue, almost purple/
The foliage is always nice after flowering is gone by.
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| tabernaemontana 6/18/12 |
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| 5/28/14 |
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| 6/25/14 |
After its brief flowering, the hubrichtii in front has nice billowy foliage all summer.
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| 8/18/14 |
Tabernaemontana had nice fall color in 2014, and hubrichtii did too.
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| 10/25/14 |
In an autumn when there is good fall color, I always like the golden amsonia and deep red Japanese maple together in the front. They have complementary colors and shapes as well.
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| 10/30/14 |
Amsonia tabernaemontana flowers always look bluer, although it is still a very pale color. It also had little fall color, just a green tan shade in fall.
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| A. tabernaemontana 5/30/15 in close up, 5/22/15, and 8/24 in summer |
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| 6/10/15 |
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| 6/14/15 |
