Amsonia elliptica
$13.95
For season-long interest and durability, it's hard to top this form of eastern bluestar. The late-spring sprays of pale blue flowers are of course quite welcome, but so too is the verdant willow-like foliage, which is healthy and handsome from the plant's emergence in mid-spring to its butter-yellow autumn swan song. Herbivores -- large and small -- tend to leave it alone. Use willow-leaved bluestar as a structural element in a perennial or wildflower planting, or as a massed border of its own.
Full sun to light shade; most soils (drought tolerant); 30"x30"; late spring to early summer; Zone 4
Propagated from divisions; deep 3.5-inch pots
Photo: wallygrom