Amsonia hubrichtii

10 years ago

The longer I have this plant, the more I like it.

This year the autumn color is truly spectacular, though usually it is a bright gold without the red tones.
{{gwi:206560}}From October, 2013

I like its subtle June flowers.
{{gwi:230639}}From June 11, 2013

And for most of the summer it provides a bright green note with its feathery textured, healthy foliage. This is a plant that the only maintenance I do is to cut it back in the late fall, and occassionally dig out a seedling to give away; no deadheading, no trimming back yucky summer foliage, no staking, and no dividing. It wouldn't work in a formal garden, but is ideal for my rural setting.

Featured Answer

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Thanks, Campanula! I've enjoyed the few photos you have posted of your new property and wouldn't mind seeing more photos of it. (hint, hint.) After gardening haphazardly for 25 or 30 years, this is the first garden I ever really planned, though only in general terms of size, growth style, and color, rather than specific plants. I then went shopping for plants that were available and affordable that fit the design, which allowed for some experiments and serendipity. Previous gardens were all experiments and serendipity with not as good results since by nature I am a plant nerd. I learned a lot from reading the landscape design forum back when it was frequented by a group of talented pros as well as perusing various books.

I live in an area that usually is under snow about 4 or even 5 months each year, so having something that is large enough to emerge from the usual 2-3 meters of the white stuff makes the winter less dismal. The times of greatest color and interest in this bed are spring, fall, and early winter before the snow gets deep. I planned for quite a number of evergreens, both coniferous and broadleafed, with the perennials as the icing on the cake. I love our mixed pine and deciduous woods, and the height of this bed was designed to cut down on visibility of the solar panels, sheds, and work area behind it without blocking all sight lines, since this is the first thing one sees as the driveway emerges from the woods. The backdrop of woodlands behind it is what most of our property looks like. The photo below is what this area looked like before we had it cleared and I put in the bed, and is what much of the woods still looks like. The shed in the background is sitting in the middle of what is now the bed, just about where the Amsonia is in photo 1 and the last two photos I posted of it in winter.

Here's a more recent photo from near the same spot, with the same cherry tree visible over to the left and the same drives that head off to the left and into the back of the photo into the woods in the photo above.

I have another bed that has a backdrop of one type of dark evergreen with all the smaller shrubs and perennials in front of them. In winter, the perennial part is invisible under the snow, but the line of evergreens is still lovely, while in summer, the evergreens take a back seat to the flowers in front. I think all my beds have something for winter interest, either shrubs, small trees or trellises.

If it is of any comfort, 150 years ago my state, New Hampshire, was 85% cleared for agriculture. It is now about 85% forested, so change is possible, though I am sure not to that degree in the UK which is more densely populated than my part of the US. One of the interesting aspects of that change is that when one walks in the woods, or flies over most parts of the state in winter, there are still visible stone walls throughout the woods that used to border farm fields. The area in the photos above was pasture because we have found barbed wire fencing in spots. (I live in one of the very few parts of NH without any rocks since we are on glacial lake sediments, so no stone walls.) The old dairy farm where I live stopped being actively farmed in the 40's or 50's, and since then woodland has largely taken over the fields with the exception of a couple of fields that were reclaimed for farming in the 70's and are still used today, though we don't do the actual farming.

Probably more response than you wanted, but it's pouring rain here today, so no going outside.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (18)

rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
10 years ago
That is an incredible fall picture of your Amonsia...stunning.

I did plant one a few years ago but it did not receive enough sunlight in that location. I had no place to move it to and so I replaced it was a part shade plant.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author
10 years ago
My plant in the second photo gets part sun and the rest bright shade. It is a bit looser by this time of year, and is turning a bit more slowly than the two in full sun (first and third photos.)

Here it is from yesterday.
Related Discussions
PPA Plant of the Year 2010: Amsonia hubrichtii
Q
Comments (19)
Ginny echoes the experience those of us further south have had with A. Hubrichtii. You need lean, poor soil to have it do anything other then flop around on the ground by fall. Not the way one wants to see the foliage no matter how attractive. I've had better luck with it's cousin A. Montana var. Short Stack (available from Plants Delight). This variety also turns a vibrant yellow in the fall, but grows shorter and has fatter leaves that really shine. A great front of the border plant. In spring it has nice steel blue flowers that paired with a strong colored pink Dianthus looks good together. As with most Amsonia it prefers a slightly acid soil so with my neutral to slightly alkaline PH it can display some chlorosis....Maryl
...See More
Does anyone have Amsonia hubrichtii - Arkansas Blue Star
Q
Comments (22)
It forms new stalks each year as the old ones die when there's a hard freeze. I leave mine up after freeze until it looks ratty and then cut it down to near ground level, but you could cut it back as soon as the foliage dies. In a year with little early snow, that might be in December, but in years with a lot of snow, it gets buried and I cut it back in spring before it starts sprouting. Mine had an unusual amount of red in it this year. Most years it is a lovely clear gold. From October, 2013 This post was edited by nhbabs on Fri, Dec 13, 13 at 6:38
...See More
Amsonia hubrichtii
Q
Comments (16)
Sometimes we all get tired of certain plants and if it doesn't work for you, by all means rip it out. I've done that with plants that I'm tired of fussing over. For me, it's the drought-tolerance, deer and rabbit resistance and the fact that it is the greenest foliage in my perennial garden this time of year (as we hit 104 degrees today). When cutting back amsonia, wear gloves as the sap can be irritating to the skin. I just slope the sides and mound the shape to keep it upright. The main one that I trim is also supported by ground cover of eupatorium 'Wayside' that is lush and blooming those cute misty blue flowers right now. That amsonia is also hiding the knees of monarda 'Raspberry Wine' on the slope above it and is flanked on one side by persicaria 'fire tail' in front of eupatorium 'chocolate'. The other side are native Joe Pye and solidago. Just pack those plants in there around it. Since amsonia blooms so early, i shape it before the companions get up around it. Cameron
...See More
Amsonia hubrichtii (bluestar)
Q
Comments (4)
In Wildflowers of the US & Canada, NEWF's William Cullina recommends that "anyone who suggests division of these must be comfortable with a chainsaw." He goes on to mention that the older woody crowns will break up over time and that you can break divisions off those.
...See More
Pat z6 MI
10 years ago
Heaven.
echinaceamaniac
10 years ago
I have this plant too and absolutely HATE it. I think it only gets the good color in the very cold zones. Mine has never looked colorful. It just looks like a big weed. I'm ripping them all out next Spring.
Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
10 years ago
Love, love, love it!! Interestingly, mine also has red/mahogany undertones this year too.
valeriepa
10 years ago
I have seeds of this plant if anyone wants to trade.
aachenelf z5 Mpls
10 years ago
I've heard about the supposed outstanding fall color of Amsonia, but had no idea it was anything like this. Those photos are gorgeous!

Kevin
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author
10 years ago
Ech - It may have something to do with other growing conditions. I have well-drained acid fine sandy loam with a lot of added well-composted manure added to the bed. It may not do as well in other soils. I haven't seen photos of your garden, so I also don't know how well this plant fits the style of your garden. It fits well in my rambunctiously casual garden which was planned to have as much year-round foliage interest as possible as well as looking nice from a longer view, so I would grow it regardless of its fall color.

I have to admit that it doesn't always look this spectacular. As long as we don't get an early hard freeze (when it goes from green to gray) it usually turns a lovely gold with orange highlights, more like the shaded plant in the fourth photo than this year's full sun plants. It does take a hard freeze (25 degrees F) to kill it however, so the color will develop through several light frosts in my garden.
gardenbug
10 years ago
My favourite plant! I'm in Canada and it is always beautiful here. I grow it in several spots on my rural property.
Tina Buell (Z9b)
8 years ago
I am thinking about buying this plant, and I know it turns a pretty color in late fall or early winter, but how will I know when it's time to cut it back?
gdinieontarioz5
8 years ago
You cut it back whenever you don't like the way it looks any more. Even early spring would work.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Tina, I cut mine back any time between the first hard frost, when it turns a light tan color and earliest spring. I like how it looks still after the first hard frost but before the first snow, so I often cut it back in March after the snow melts, when it looks awful. They are pretty large plants, so I use a tool I learned about here for cutting back perennials, old-fashioned hedge shears.

Fall appearance after frost it adds contrast with the nearby evergreens

In early spring it isn't ornamental any longer so this is when I cut it off. When we have a winter like this one, with a thaw now that has eliminated what snow we have had, I can cut it back now.
agardenstateof_mind
8 years ago
Here in Zone 7 central NJ, near the shore, this perennial displays wonderful fall color year after year. Perhaps the lack of good autumn color may be due to other factors.
User
8 years ago
I put a couple in along one of the banks in my woodland, along with asters, eupatoriums, molinia, carex....and I honestly don't even care if the autumn colouration is vivid because I am loving the delicate structure and airiness of this plant. I have always had a huge weakness for large airy perennials but never had a space to show them to their advantage...but I have now. Have many of the tabernaemontana (from seed) dotted about the place too.
Tina Buell (Z9b)
8 years ago
Thank you for your responses!
User
8 years ago
I am loving your garden, NHBabs. I am seeing a really distinctive American garden style on GW which is refreshing and exciting...for me at least...especially since trees, particularly evergreens, are underused in the UK...and I would say the same about a number of shrubs such as ninebark which create a totally different aesthetic to the 'heavy on perennials', English garden style which often passed for 'superior' garden taste in the US. I don't want to sound patronising...it really is interesting to fully appreciate a stylistic departure from current UK orthodoxy.

I think the tree-lines and 'borrowed' landscapes are a crucial aspect - the UK has not even begun to recover from the almost total loss of climax vegetation at the end of the 18-19C in lieu of agriculture and managed forestry which has nothing of the magical, natural or artistic.- our tree cover, at around 9% is the lowest in Europe with only a few tiny vestiges of ancient woodland.
PRO
KD Landscape
8 years ago
Amsonia hubrichtii and a single gingko in October at the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.
Fall Color · More Info

Amsonia hubrichtii

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

Comments (18)

rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

Related Discussions

Pat z6 MI

echinaceamaniac

Thyme2dig NH Zone 5

valeriepa

aachenelf z5 Mpls

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

gardenbug

Tina Buell (Z9b)

gdinieontarioz5

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

agardenstateof_mind

User

Tina Buell (Z9b)

User

KD Landscape

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Amsonia hubrichtii

NHBabs z4b-5a NHOriginal Author

Comments (18)

NHBabs z4b-5a NHOriginal Author

Related Discussions

NHBabs z4b-5a NHOriginal Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NHOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
Original Author