Making a Commitment to a Signature Plant

Way back in the beginning of December, Tina, from In the Garden posted an article about signature plants.  I read what other bloggers said they thought would be their signature plants, but this is what I said in my comment to Tina: "I am having trouble deciding whether I have a signature plant.  I love different kinds of amsonias.  They have lots of little blue flowers in the spring, but provide good looking foliage all season.  Am I saying I am good looking in all seasons?  I don't think so.  LOL So in what way do I identify with amsonias?  I'm not sure.  Also, I have day lilies all over the place.  They grow in a wide range of conditions.  Each flower blooms for only a day, but the plants have lots of blooms and keep opening up day after day.  I love day lily bloom time."

Last week, Gail, from Clay and Limestone posted about an area she wants to plant, and is considering different bloggers' signature plants.  She said someone should adopt amsonia. As I was reading that, I thought I should do that. Then I read where Tina let her know that I have posted about amsonias, and so Gail put a link to my blog.  

With that all said, I have made a commitment to my beloved amsonias, which I have already expressed my love for.  I thought of another way I identify with them.  We like to grow and keep going strong even if cut back.  I still like a large variety of plants, though.  I am such a collector!

Amosonia Hubrichtii June, 2008:

Amsonia Tabernaemontana, June, 2008:

Amsonia, the Final Installment

I thought I'd go ahead and finish up so that these two amsonias can be compared to each other. I believe this one actually is tabernaemontana.  These pics, as were the ones in the previous post were taken with my old camera, and I hope that's why they were grainy.  I think I'll leave these smaller.

On 5/6/08, the amsonia , on the bottom part of the photo, was coming up on the east side of the house, next to the egress window, in the south edge of the bed.  The single shoot coming up is a baptisia that blew over in the wind and died when it was about 18 inches tall. A friend of mine gave me the repeat blooming day lily in the upper left of the pic. It's blooming in the photo after this one.

On 5/20, look how much it grew, and formed flower buds!  It's just to the right of the day lily, with an allium blooming behind it.

In full, glorious bloom, 6/3!

By 6/8, it was setting seed pods.  There are 2 colors of spiderwort near by.  I have recently discovered pasque flowers, which are in the bottom of the photo, on the left, not deadheaded because the seed heads are pretty.

It looks like I had just given a haircut here, 6/22.  When you trim amsonia, a white juice forms that one should try not to touch, as it can cause irritation. The plants heal over shortly and grow again quickly.  The plant behind it is a mountain mint that I've written about in another post.  The gay feather may be a volunteer.  There are several plants in that area, and I should thin them this spring.  The small leaved iris is from a plant I bought from a lady who sold plants from her yard over 12 years ago.  I think she called it a Japanese Iris.

See, I told you they grow back quickly!  This was taken 7/10.

I trimmed the amsonia again 8/4 because the mountain mint wasn't getting as tall as I thought it would, and I wanted to give it more light.  The amsonia is in the upper middle of the photo, to the left of the iris.

On 8/28, both the amsonia and mountain mint are doing fine.

The amsonia is on the left here.  I wanted to include this photo of Heidi in one of her favorite spots, next to the flowers, 9/21.  The asters are doing their thing, after the long period of teasing with their buds.

On 9/25, it's still a good looking plant, in the upper left of the photo.

On 10/25, it's still green, in the upper middle.

It has turned a lovely gold by 11/14.

On 12/26, it's still pretty to me. I love this amsonia!

Thank you for indulging me in taking 4 posts, full of pics, to honor what I'm thinking must be my signature plants, the different types of amsonias.

Amsonias Part 3, The first was not my true love.

In December, I wrote about love found in an alley and then love part 2.  Today I am posting about the first Amsonia tabernaemontana I found locally after falling in love with the one in the alley.  When it bloomed, the flowers were slightly different, and I realized it was not the same kind as my first love.  It was OK, but over time, I realized it's a bit spready, and flops over, so needs more support.  It's not as tall, either.

This photo was taken 5/6/08, and shows the amsonia coming up on the east side of the house, next to the window well, under and next to the barbed wire.  On the left is a yellow blooming helenium, or Helen's flower.

This one, taken 5/12, shows the quaking grass next to the amsonia.  There is also a clump of amsonia that has spread in and next to the goldenrod in front of the bed frame.

In bud, 5/19:

The one that spread to the area in front of the bed frame, 6/3:

Another, next to the yarrow, has joined in the blooming, 6/15, making 3 clumps in flower:

I'm not sure why I included this one, but the amsonia is still there against the house 6/18:

In late June, I was asked to have my yard toured by my local herb society, because the woman whose yard was to be toured broke her hip.  I would have rather waited until next year, but agreed, because another member who lives near me agreed to have hers toured, too.  In my preparation, I decided to dig out some of the flopping amsonia and pull up some that was out of bounds. The next photo was taken 7/10.  There is still a clump right against the house.  I don't remember what kind of cone flower I planted.  The yellow/orange flower is a crocosmia.

On 8/4, it's still right against the house, not spreading.  The newly planted foxgloves and fancy daisy I can't remember the name of are blooming.

I didn't seem to have more pics of this amsonia until 12/26.  When I first started to work on this post the other day, I thought I had mislabeled the next pic, and that it was the one by the egress window, so I waited until I could take another pic.  I should have known better than that, because the leaves are shaped a little differently, and the other does not lie down like this one.

I decided to go ahead and include the pic I went out in the cold and snow after work today to take, which is when I realized I had not mislabeled the other pic like I thought I had.

I am thankful the days are getting longer now.  Spring is getting closer.  This blogging has become my winter gardening, and I get to visit other gardens in the process.  Fun, fun, fun!

A Love that Began in an Alley, Part 1

About 10 years ago, my husband's sister and her family moved into a house with a huge yard I was envious of.  In the spring, I went exploring through a gate to the alley, to see what the neighbors were growing.  There, right in the alley, was a splendid 3 to 4 foot tall, and almost as wide, plant covered with small flowers that were star shaped and a beautiful light sky blue!  It was love at first sight.  I had no idea what it was, but I started my hunt.  I don't remember how long it took, but some people who were having a plant sale had one in their yard.  They did not have one for sale, but were able to tell me it was an amsonia.  They said I could get one from Blue Bird Nursery in Clarkson, NE, which is a couple hours from here.  They also bring plants to Lincoln for our "Spring Affair" which is an awesome plant sale at our fairgrounds.

I was pleased to find my first amsonia at a local nursery that sells native plants.  We made the drive to Clarkson, when I realized this was a little different from the one I saw in the alley. Since then, I have found other kinds at the Spring Affair and from our Nebraska State Arboretum, where they sell "Great Plants for the Great Plains".  This summer, I even found one at a mainstream nursery on the 75% off rack!  But, I digress, this one will be featured in a different post, since I seem to like to go into detail and put lots of pics up.

The first amsonia I am featuring is not the first kind I got, which is a bit spready.  This one, I'm pretty sure is Amsonia tabernaemontana.  Actually the first one I got was called that, too, but as I said, it is not the same thing.

In late April, there were woody stems, but no green yet on this plant.  This photo was taken May 6.  The amsonia is on the left. In the back, is a false baptisia, and to the right is a day lily. Click on any of the pics if you want to see them larger.

The amsonia grew noticeably, as this pic from May 12 shows.

May 19:

It was blooming here on June 3.  The flowers are much prettier in person.

This is from June 8, showing the plant grows while it's blooming:

There weren't as many blooms by June 18, but the baptisia behind is putting on quite a show. We had looked into replacing the red shed, but, as I've mentioned, the city didn't allow it because it would not be even with the neighbors' house.  It is now repaired and green. The dog kennel is no longer in the back yard, either.

On June 22, there were a few blooms and the long slender seed pods were forming.

This photo is from July 6th, and I had just cut the plant back so the baptisia could be seen and the plant wouldn't spread over the other nearby plants as much.  I don't think you are supposed to cut it back this far, but there is one at our farmers' market that gets cut to the ground each year, so I decided to experiment.

August 6th, the baptisa was making seed pods, and the amsonia had formed a nice mound.

Here's a wider view, taken August 31, with our amsonia and baptisia on the right of the photo. A relative, one that will be featured later, is the plant turning gold already, in front of the black eyed Susans under the garden window.

September 7, I'm not sure how long the false sunflowers had been blooming.  The butterflies sure liked them.  The amsonia still grew wider than I wanted it to.  I think I may try dividing it in the spring.  I did cut it back at the edges.

September 25, you can see the mountain mint on the right.  The verbena "on a stick" is providing color.

November 5, after we had had a freeze, amsonia on the left, baptisia on the right:

December 7:

Today, December 26, I'm still in love:

I hope you are having a great holiday season.