DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9711010113

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

FEW KNOW OR GROW AMSONIA BUT MROE SHOULD GIVE IT A TRY

Amsonia is an easy-to-grow, trouble-free perennial, native to North America, according to many garden books. Yet most gardeners have never heard of amsonia and even fewer grow it.

It's blooms are blue, one of the most difficult colors to find in garden flowers. Amsonia is sometimes called ``Texas Blue Star'' or ``Blue Dogbane.'' Perhaps more gardeners would plant it if it were called ``Blue Star,'' because that is descriptive of its blooms, which are like 1-inch blue stars that cover the plant in early summer.

Amsonia is on North Carolina's preservation list and is protected, so it cannot be picked or dug from the woods.

It grows 1 to 2 feet high in full sun or partial shade and is covered with light green leaves that are smooth and neat. It prefers ordinary garden soil and is drought tolerant. Amsonia is most often used to fill a hole in a perennial bed.

It's good for cutting, if you sear the ends of the cut stems.

By now, amsonia has lost its leaves. Beginning in late summer, its leaves turn yellow and remain that color for a month or so before they drop.

The plant slowly enlarges in width, so after five years or so you can divide it and use in other parts of the garden or give to friends.

Amsonia is available for planting now, either from nurseries or by mail. Wayside Gardens offers amsonia hubrectii or Arkansas amsonia. It is different in that it has thread-like foliage that turns a harvest yellow in autumn. Wayside charges $7.95 for a 3 1/2 inch pot.

Niche Gardens also sells amsonia for about the same price. Amsonia is native to the South, so it is not usually listed in perennial books or catalogs for northern climates. MEMO: Wayside Gardens catalog is free by calling (800) 845-1124. Niche

Gardens catalog costs $3, mailed to 1111 Dawson Road, Chapel Hill, N.C.

27516. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

WHITE FLOWER FARM

Amsonia...

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