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Amsonia jonesii

 
Amsonia jonesii
Jones' bluestar; Colorado desert blue star

Common name Jones' bluestar; Colorado desert blue star
Family apocynaceae
Life cycle perennial (Z4-9)
Flowers blue
Size 10-14"
Light sun
Cultural notes well-drained soil; drought-tolerant
From seed give two months cold, then germinate at warm room temperature
detailed seed-starting info below

Native to the US southwest. Reportedly has good fall color.
So far, after several years in our garden, they appear to be most like a smaller version of A. illustris, with similar willowy and shiny leaves, and flowers held at the tips of the stems. Ours are vase-shaped, about two feet tall – taller than the 10-14" I found in online references, but not as wide around. I'm not so sure what we have is the real thing – in online photos, A. jonesii tends to have chubbier petals, whereas the ones on our plant are quite slender. In any case, our plant was starting to outgrow its space, so I decided to edit it out of the landscape, in favor of some smaller-growing plants.

Amsonia jonesii
Dark-fuzzy buds with emerging flowers
Jones' bluestar; Colorado desert blue star
Willowy leaves with prominent central vein

This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away...

About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Amsonia jonesii


Seed-starting details for this plant

  1. Seed from '08 trade. Baggy 35F (9w) - 75F (71%G, 3-5d).
    Also baggy 70F (16d; 20%G, 4d) - 35F (8w) - 75F (40%G, 4d)

Starting with a cold treatment looks like it's the way to go.


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