Common Bluestar

Common Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) blooms in mid-spring with clusters of powder blue star-shaped flowers sitting atop the upright stems. A very popular garden member, this clumping perennial forms a neat and attractive 3’ tall plant at maturity. The narrow, willow-like foliage looks good all summer, and in the fall the leaves turn a striking yellow-gold. Bluestar plants can get a little floppy after the flowering is finished, which is easily remedied by trimming off the top six inches of growth. This will help keep the plants upright and maintain a shapely mounded form, however, trimming does prevent the production and ripening of the elongated the seedpods.

Easy to grow in average soil, Bluestar prefers moist, well-drained soil in full sun or light shade, and is fairly drought tolerant once established. Long-lived and adaptable, this native of open woodlands and meadows is at home from Missouri to Texas, and New Jersey to Florida, but is hardy enough for Wisconsin and Michigan, too.

Like many other plants in the Apocynaceae family (dogbanes and milkweeds), the foliage of Bluestar contains a toxic white latex, making it reliably deer and herbivore resistant. The flowers attract various long-tongued insects, including the Large Carpenter Bee and hummingbird moths. Eastern Bluestar and Blue Dogbane are other commons names for this plant. It is one of several host plants for the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris difinis).