Tuesday, March 15, 2011

NCBG Seed List !


Last week I got the 2011 Member's Seed List from the NC Botanical Garden. Always a cause for celebration. :)


Notice the first item circled on the list: Amsonia ciliata, or Sandhills Bluestar. Sweet !! I fell in love
with this Bluestar after seeing it in the Coastal Plain section of the Botanical Garden last spring.


I have started their Amsonia tabernamontana from seed to see if it was any different from mine. It comes up a lot later than mine does and the foliage doesn't have the dark blue-green cast when it's new. Like mine it is extremely drought tolerant ~ it has big thick roots that voles won't eat and just it ducks underground in summer drought. I'm going to try Foamflower from seed this year. This lovely planting is next to Totten House at the NCBG and photographed in April 2010.



I'm going to try to grow more of their Geranium maculatum too. I love the one that grows wild here but I think this one is showier. It's as though it has magic dust sprinkled on it. The color really shines in part shade.


Members get 8 seed choices. My others for this year are:

Marsh Eryngo ~ descriptions from the NCBG Seed List; usually short but compelling :) "Interesting architectural plant; attracts many pollinators"

Piedmont Staggerbush ~ "Petite, well-behaved shrub; numerous, urn-shaped flowers in spring; brilliant color in fall"

White Meadow Beauty ~ I have two species of Meadow Beauty in various shades of pink but not white.

Large-flower American Aster ~ to replace the one I lost during a wet winter

Virginia Goat's Rue ~ "Low-growing legume provides color in dry places; charming and under-used." Should be happy up at the mailbox.


19 comments:

  1. Love that Amsonia, Sweetbay, as well as the Tiarella... both delicate beauty. It looks like Spring has arrived for you.

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  2. Oh my - I had no idea there were different varieties of amsonia! That ciliata looks like a sweetie for sure. Good luck with all your new starts :)

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  3. I need to plant some amsonia! Any plant that voles won't eat is for me! Carla

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  4. The blooms look so dainty but oh so pretty!

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  5. Sweetbay,

    The meadow beauties would be my first choice. We have Geranium maculatum growing wild all along our road.

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  6. You have so many beautiful plants in your garden. I hope your choices work out for you. I always enjoy looking at your pictures, they are superb.

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  7. A sweet deal, for sure. I wish you much success with your seeds.

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  8. You have convinced me I must try amsonia. It is so beautiful, and drought tolerant! I really like the geranium, too. I will think about that one too and do some research to see how it might like my summers.

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  9. What fun! I like amsonia too. I wouldn't call the root mass fleshy, we tried to divide one in the learning garden. Had to use an axe and a sharp knife. wow!
    looks like a great list to choose from!

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  10. Fleshy in terms of mass and when young, but I guess fleshy should be reserved for plants like daylilies. Thick would be a better word! I'll change it. Most really large perennial roots become woody with age. Baptisia and Lespedeza are the same way. I moved some A. tabernaemontana this summer when I changed the path in the big bed, and they had very sizeable roots. And I've got a Lespedeza in a 3 gallon pot with the bottom cut out that managed to tip over even though it has roots like a pine tree. The dirt is so soft. With those big roots I may just have to cut the plastic pot away and mulch with gravel.

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  11. Let us know how all your seeds do. I think that seed list is indeed a cause for celebration. I tell you one can't have too many bluestar. Drought tolerant is the name of the game.

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  12. Sweetbay, I love the A cilliata but, think its name is a clue to what it might need to grow and it doesn't look like it's clay! Tell me otherwise! gail

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  13. I am really looking forward to see what your seeds produce this coming spring and summer. I had a few foam flowers, but sadly lost them after a few years. I guess foam flowers find our winters here tough. Your pictures remind me how truly lovely they are. I also took a look at the last couple of posts. What fabulous collection of irises you have! They are most impressive in a large group, just as you have planted in your garden.

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  14. Love the selections shown here! Blue is always my fav. color in the garden.I will tend to a woodland garden this year so scattering seeds is my plan.

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  15. Some of your choices are unknown to me.

    I have a Goat's rue, same foliage as the one your getting put the flowers are not at all like a pea/legume.

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  16. Rob I just looked it up and your Goat's Rue is Galega officinalis, naturalized in Europe, and Va. Goat's Rue is Tephrosia virginiana. In the Botanical Garden it grows in the Coastal Plain sandbox. If I remember correctly the flowers are a bit large for the size of the plant and the flowers are pink and cream.

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  17. PS. The Garden likes to introduce a lot of little-known native beauties along with the more well-known ones.

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  18. Gail I'm going to try A. ciliata on top of my hill, which is almost pure sand, and in a few other places as well. Can't hurt to try! It might be happy with just good drainage and not require sand. I found this on the easywildflowers.com site: "Amsonia ciliata Fringed Bluestar, has striking leafy masses 18 to 30 inches tall formed from small narrow leaves. Among the leafy mass, spiking stems support clusters of star-shaped, light blue flowers that are delicately scented. Grow Fringed Blue Star in average to dry soil in full sun to light shade. The light blue flowers are seen in full bloom in May growing wild on limestone glades in the Ozarks."

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  19. The little Bluestar is lovely. You have so many big plans! No doubt your garden will be more beautiful than ever this year.

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