Sunday, March 04, 2007

Bluestar-Amsonia tabernaemontana- Dogbane family










Blooms in spring early summer.







Full sun to light shade and average moist conditions.Different soil types are tolerated, including those that contain clay-loam, rocky material, or sand.




Habitats include rocky woodlands, shaded rocky ravines, gravelly seeps, borders of streams, limestone glades, and moist sandy meadows.






The nectar of the flowers attracts the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and various long-tongued insects. These insect visitors include the Large Carpenter bee , Hummingbird moths , and various butterflies.

And after the blooms pass and summer turns to fall, the foliage turns a rich shade of yellow and remains colorful for weeks.















Amsonia hubrichtii - Arkansas
Leaves more narrow threadlike









Missouri native - amsonia ciliata
Well-drained, sandy loam or limestone. Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Limestone-based. Dry, open woods; chalky hills


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6 Comments:

Blogger Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Thank you Gloria for those truly lovely pictures. Nature can be so beautiful, don't you think?

BTW I'm a no sprays ever gardener too. And compost and I? Well, we're the best of friends. ;-)

5/3/07 11:48 AM  
Blogger Gloria said...

Yolanda elizabet, there are more of us every day...

6/3/07 12:53 AM  
Blogger firefly said...

I have to ask, Gloria -- is the area with the streetlights around it that so often shows in photos your yard, or is that a different garden in the city?

If that's your back yard, I have back yard envy starting ... now.

I'd love to have the room to plant great swathes of wildflowers like this. Intense little clumps will have to do, though.

6/3/07 6:05 PM  
Blogger Gloria said...

If only...
Those lights surround the Lurie garden. I am a volunteer gardener through the Master Gardener program. At least once a season I try to remember to bring a camera to take pictures as I work through an area.
My urban garden is way smaller than that.
Thought if you move the arrow over the pictures it says Lurie, I guess I will have to identify the pictures better.

6/3/07 8:30 PM  
Blogger kate said...

I have never seen so many amsonia together before. Usually there are one or two large clumps of plants. They are so beautiful!

I am adding your blog to my blog links!

5/4/07 10:54 AM  
Blogger Gloria said...

I see you found the amsonia. These pictures of the amsonia were taken at the Lurie garden. 2.5 acres of the Millenium Garden on the Lake front, where I am a volunteer through the Master Gardener program. It is a fun way to get up close to the city gardens.
This plant design at the Lurie was done by Piet Oudolf of Holland.
Many of the plants are native North American or of similar habit.
The garden is beautiful through most of the year and I am in process of taking pictures as often as possible. I will be littering this blog with more pictures of the Lurie than my own small garden.

6/4/07 2:06 AM  

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