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Amsonia hubrichtii |
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| | Magnificent fiery yellow fall foliage in early November |
| Synonym(s) |
Amsonia hubrectii |
| Common name |
narrow-leaf blue star |
| Family |
apocynaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z5-9) |
| Flowers |
light blue (late May-June) |
| Size |
24-36" |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
average garden soil, drought-tolerant |
From seed  |
Tricky to germinate - cold treatment and/or temperature cycling may be helpful.
detailed seed-starting info below
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| Seed ripens | early November |
The leaves on this species, native to the south-central United States, are truly thread-like, giving the whole plant a fascinating appearance. Mature, well-grown specimens in a friend's garden looked much more impressive than mine, but I'm happy enough just to have it. And I must say, many years after establishing my first stand, the plants are still improving, so be patient, fellow gardeners!
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| | Newly re-emerging, late April |
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| | By late December, those thread-leaves have taken on a bad-hair-day look, which is pretty cool as far as I'm concerned. |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. See comparative information about amsonias in our garden About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Amsonia hubrichtii
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Mari | Apr 30, 2006 | Mine has no luck so far :-< A.tabernaeontane germinated v. easily (autumn sow, germinated in Apr) but this is the amsonia I wanted to grow in my shady woodland garden. The seeds were from Chiltern Seeds and have been in the pot for a full year and some months now! (from Berkshire, UK)
Amsonias certainly are tricky, and I've not always had luck getting them to germinate - whether that's because of seed viability or germination conditions is hard to say. Outside treatment does seem to be the best approach in many cases. |
| Pat W. Darwin, Mn | Nov 25, 2008 | Mine germinated(100%) this year after the 3rd cold warm cycle-when the temps were around 80f. Maybe they need it hot at the end?
I have found the same thing - after the cold treatment (just one is fine), they need a bit more than room temperature to germinate. Bottom heat, or other means of providing warmth, seems to do the trick. |
| Caryn, Cedar Hill TX | Jun 21, 2011 | What is its growth rate from a 4" pot to reach maturity?
Amsonia takes a few years to get to its full stature. I'd say about three years from a well-started plant like your 4" potted specimen. |
- Seed from '02 HPS/MAG exchange. Baggy 70F (7w, no G) - to pot outside (17%G, June)
- Seed from '04 HPS/MAG exchange. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (4w; 4%G, 12d) - to pot outside (76%G, 4w - in late May)
- Same seed as above, sown to pot set outside 12/8/04. No G (disc. May '06)
- Seed from '06 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (65%G, 3-7d)
- Seed from '07 garden (bench specimen). Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (55%G, 3-15d)
Also seed from '06 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (70%G, 6-18d)
- Seed from NARGS '07/'08 exchange. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (60%G, 2-10d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (35%G, 5-8w). No idea why germination was lower and delayed this year.
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (45%G, 4-12d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (9d; 60%G, 3-9d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (3w; 7%G, 10d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 35F (8w) - 75F (6%g, 10d; no development)
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