Starstruck opens sparkling, sky blue, star-shaped flowers in spring, but its real strength is what follows: an incredibly full mound of vibrant green leaves with pale midribs on dark olive stems that stays handsome all season.
It is more compact than many blue stars, with wider leaves, and blooms a week or two later in spring. Growing about three feet tall and wider than tall, it gives shrub-like impact without getting too large. This native perennial is easy care, heat and humidity tolerant, and deer resistant.
What it looks like
Loose clusters of small, five-pointed, star-shaped flowers about three quarters of an inch across in soft sky blue at the tips of the stems. Leaves are lance-shaped, vibrant green with lighter midribs, fairly wide for an amsonia, densely held on dark olive stems. The plant is a very full, rounded, shrub-like mound 30 to 36 inches tall and 38 to 44 inches wide. At peak bloom the dense green mound is topped with a sprinkling of sky blue stars.
Growing it with lavender
Starstruck handles sun and tolerates lean soil once established, though it likes a bit more water than lavender; plant it at the back of a sunny border where its full green mound frames lavender in summer.
Care
Grow in full sun to part shade in average soil with regular moisture; it tolerates poorer soil and is heat and humidity tolerant. Hardy in USDA zones 4-9. Trim stems back by about a third after flowering to keep the mound full; established plants rarely need dividing.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Amsonia
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Flower color: Sky blue
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Foliage: Vibrant green with lighter midribs
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Growth habit: Full, rounded, shrub-like mound
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Mature size: 30–36 in tall × 38–44 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Late-May
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Peak bloom: Early-June
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
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