7 Beautiful Amsonia Varieties For Your Garden

Amsonia is striking in the perennial and pollinator garden - and any spot in between. The genus hosts native species and a few non-natives with highly ornamental. steely blue flowers, narrow olive green leaves, and an adaptable nature. Here, gardening expert Katherine Rowe explores top-performing bluestar varieties for versatile additions to your spring-through-fall display. The pollinators will thank you with repeat visits.

Written by Katherine Rowe Horticulture review by Sarah Jay Last updated: July 25, 2024 | 5 min read

Amsonia ciliata varieties feature fine, needle-like foliage with airy clusters of soft, pale blue star-shaped flowers, creating a light and graceful presence.

Contents

Amsonia, or bluestar, is a small genus mostly native to the United States, with some occurring in Mexico, Asia, and the Mediterranean. The perennial grows naturally in the south, central, and eastern United States.

It shines in late spring with large, loose clusters of periwinkle blue flowers. Attractive, willowy foliage in deep olive green with golden-yellow fall color brings multiseason appeal. Even when the bushy perennials aren’t in flower, they provide a handsome backdrop to summer and fall bloomers. They’ll even serve as a shrub replacement.

Here are seven gorgeous Amsonia varieties to add to your garden!

Overview and Care

The plant showcases narrow, lance-shaped leaves that create a lush, green backdrop for its clusters of delicate, star-shaped purple flowers. — Plants produce multiple stems with varied heights and bloom density.

These perennials produce multiple stems in a range of heights and widths according to species and cultivar. The primary differences between types lie in form, foliage, and bloom density.

In late spring and early summer, flowers appear in panicles on the tips of stems. Each tubular floret flares to a pointed star shape. After flowering, elongated bean-like seed pods develop. The fruits dry and split open when ripe. Most Amsonia varieties cross-hybridize in the landscape, and it’s possible seeds won’t grow true to type.

When cut or damaged, stems produce a milky sap to seal the wound and deter predation. If ingested, the sap is toxic to people and pets and can cause contact skin irritation. Because of the distasteful sap, deer seldom damage the native bloomers.

Bluestar develops a robust root system with long tap roots. Clumps seldom need dividing, even after many years. They spread slowly, but the long-lived qualities endure.

Design and Ecology

Choose from an abundance of Amsonia varieties and plant en masse for impact or feature them as single specimens. Employ them in the perennial border, native planting arrangement, pollinator, rain, and rock garden. They’re also ideal for woodland edges.

The genus complements spring-flowering plants like tulips, daffodils, lilies, and phlox. Coreopsis, hardy hibiscus, salvia, and ornamental grasses add color against the fine foliage throughout the warm season.

In addition to bluestar’s ornamental value are its ecological services. This exceptional native is famous for its low maintenance and easy care. Plants are durable and have few landscape problems. The flowers and foliage host pollinators, and there’s little demand for excess resources regarding water and fertilizers.

With a billowy texture, bluestar enlivens the planting arrangement with abundant baby blue florets and rich foliage. It’s drought-tolerant, deer-resistant, and withstands heat and humidity. In optimal growing conditions, it’s a long-lived garden performer. With a sunny location and moisture during intense dry spells, it needs little else to flourish.

Care Tips

This plant displays broad, lance-shaped leaves with dense clusters of soft, blue star-shaped flowers, thriving in a sunny garden. — Place in sun or partial shade with regular moisture.

Place Amsonia in full sun to partial shade, with at least four to six hours of sunlight daily. In more shade, stems may droop and flop. Ordinary soils with average moisture and good drainage are ideal.

They’ll do best with regular moisture during the first growing season. Once established, average rainfall is usually enough to support growth, with supplemental water during prolonged dry spells.

Optionally, after flowering, cut stems back to six to eight inches of the ground. This neatens the plant’s appearance and encourages new growth, but it isn’t essential to plant health.

7 Best Amsonia Varieties for Gardens

This genus includes about 22 species. Amsonia tabernaemontana is the most widely cultivated, but there are many species and varieties to choose from. Here are our favorite picks for perennial gardens.

‘Storm Cloud’

This variety showcases dramatic dark stems and lush, broad green leaves, topped with dense clusters of vivid blue star-shaped flowers. — Eastern bluestar delights with periwinkle flowers and vibrant fall colors.

	botanical name Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Storm Cloud’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

A. tabernaemontana, or Eastern bluestar, is highly ornamental and the most popular of the group. ‘Storm Cloud’ is an exciting discovery among the native species. In late spring, loose clusters of periwinkle blue flowers appear. Each ¾-inch tubular floret flares to a pointed star shape.

As temperatures warm in the spring, new stems emerge nearly black. They hold their dark color through flowering, lightening as summer progresses. Willow-shaped leaves densely whorl around the smooth stems. They emerge dark olive green with silver veins. As summer moves to fall, they become lighter green and yellow before turning gold in cool autumn temperatures.

Renowned plantsmen Hans Hansen (Walters Gardens) and Tony Avent (Plant Delights Nursery) discovered the native selection among an Amsonia colony in Bibb County, Alabama. The plants were in wet, deep shade along a woodland stream. After trials in Michigan and North Carolina, they selected ‘Storm Cloud’ for its robust growth, compact habit, and prolific blooms.

‘Storm Cloud’ is the 2024 Proven Winners’ Landscape Perennial of the Year. It topped plant trials at Michigan (2022) and Mississippi (2021) State Universities.

‘Hubricht’s Narrow Leaf’

Known for its airy, thread-like foliage, this plant features soft blue flowers. — This species blooms with steel blue flowers and golden fall foliage.

	botanical name Amsonia hubrichtii
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 5-8

A. hubrichtii, or Arkansas bluestar, is a favorite with delicate, threadlike foliage on upright stems. The leaves are the narrowest among the genus, gaining popularity as one of the most cultivated of the group.

Considered another “best of,” this species earned the Perennial Plant Association’s Plant of the Year designation in 2011. The designation recognizes plants with a wide range of growing climates, low maintenance requirements, multiseason appeal, and pest and disease resistance.

Hubricht’s spreads slowly to form a clump measuring a whopping six feet wide. In April and May, the full, lacy plants produce clouds of steel blue flowers. In fall, the foliage turns deep golden orange for a feathery spray of color.

Naturalist Leslie Hubricht discovered the species in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas in 1942. They occur naturally in fields, rocky outcrops, and creek banks.

‘Blue Ice’

Compact and tidy, it has deep green, lance-shaped leaves and vibrant, deep blue flowers in dense clusters. — This compact variety showcases large clusters of deep-lavender blooms.

	botanical name Amsonia orientalis ‘Blue Ice’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 15-18”
	hardiness zones 4-9

A. orientalis ‘Blue Ice’ is a selection of the species native to Turkey, Greece, Japan, and North America. The compact grower bears a profusion of large bloom clusters. Dark blue buds appear in early spring and open to deep-lavender purple stars.

One of the showiest in flower, the cultivar’s origin is muddled. Nurseryman Michael Dodge found it growing on a seed table among A. tabernaemontana at White Flower Farm in Connecticut. Its attributes more closely resemble A. orientalis than Eastern bluestar.

Flower clusters of ‘Blue Ice’ are bigger than the species. They spread up to two feet wide.

‘String Theory’

This variety displays fine, needle-like leaves that provide a wispy texture, with clusters of pale blue flowers adding a soft, elegant charm. — This is a compact variety with feathery leaves that turn deep gold.

	botanical name Amsonia hubrichtii ‘String Theory’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 18-22”
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘String Theory’ is a compact version of A. hubrichtii. The variety flowers later than ‘Storm Cloud,’ in late spring and early summer. Plants spread less than the species at 32-36 inches wide.

The cosmic strings of this cultivar are its feathery leaves. They stay fresh and green throughout the growing season without early yellowing. In autumn, they turn the signature deep gold.

‘String Theory’ is protected under a plant patent that prohibits propagation.

‘Short Stack’

A dwarf version with robust, dark green leaves, it produces an abundance of blue flowers. — This dwarf variety has sky-blue flowers and a rounded form.

	botanical name Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Short Stack’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 9-12”
	hardiness zones 5-9

This dwarf bluestar features sky-blue flowers in early April. Plant Delights Nursery introduced ‘Short Stack’ in 2003. Determined to be a selection of A. tabernaemontana, dwarf forms show minor differences in flowers and slightly smaller leaves.

With a low-growing and rounded form, stems don’t require pruning to maintain their full habit. Plants average 18 inches wide and 12″ tall.

Mt. Cuba Center trialed numerous Amsonia over a decade, including three dwarf selections. ‘Montana’ and ‘Dwarf Form’ joined ‘Short Stack’ as exceptional garden plants in floral display and foliage.

‘Starstruck’

This hybrid features lush, dark green foliage and is adorned with masses of sky-blue, star-shaped flowers that bloom in dense clusters, creating a captivating display. — A compact hybrid, this selection has gold fall color and mounded foliage.

	botanical name Amsonia ‘Starstruck’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2’
	hardiness zones 4-9

‘Starstruck’ is a compact hybrid Amsonia variety with a full habit. It reaches three feet wide and two feet tall. It blooms slightly later in the season than ‘Storm Cloud’ and is smaller in foliage and size at nearly one foot shorter.

Mounded foliage is dark olive green, becoming lighter in summer and with chartreuse veins. The hallmark gold fall color on dense stems does not disappoint.

‘Starstruck’ is an introduction from Walters Gardens in Michigan. It came from a cross between A. rigida, a southeastern native, and A. tabernaemontana.

‘Fringed’

With its fine, needle-like foliage that lends a soft texture, this plant produces airy clusters of pale blue starry flowers. — This clump-forming plant features delicate hairs and broad spread.

	botanical name Amsonia ciliata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Fringed Amsonia has tiny hairs on new leaves and stems. It resembles A. hubrichtii in leaf and flower. Aside from the “fringe,” it’s a little larger and coarser than the narrow leaf species.

‘Fringed’ forms an upright clump. While it normally spreads three feet wide, Mt. Cuba found it to grow up to 7’ wide in optimal conditions.

The fine-leaved species occurs naturally in sandy soils in the Southeast and Central U.S. It adapts to a wide range of soils, though leaves may become chlorotic in soils with a high pH (around 7.5).

‘Spring Sky’ is a fringed variety with a showier bloom display than the straight species, which has a more compact habit. A. ciliata var. tenuifolia ‘Georgia Pancake’ is a unique prostrate selection discovered in Georgia. Plants grow less than 10 inches and spread slowly to form a two-foot mat.

7 Beautiful Amsonia Varieties For Your Garden