• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Amsonia: Gird your loins

June 27, 2019 By Carol Michel 5 Comments

There are some garden tasks that require you to prepare yourself physically and mentally, to gird your loins. One of those tasks in my garden is cutting back Amsonia tabernaemontana, Bluestar, after it has flowered and formed seed pods.

Those seed pods! They must be removed at any cost or my entire garden would be Amsonia. I do not want those seeds to ripen, fall to the ground, and germinate.

The Amsonia seedlings, which don’t look all that big, have roots that rival those of nearly any other plant I can think of.

Most seeds anchor themselves with a bit of root before sending up a shoot.  Amsonia must spend 99% of its energy on developing a strong root before using its last 1% to send up a shoot.

You can attempt to pull them out. Just try. You won’t be able to pull it out. It will laugh at you. It will stand there collecting on bets it made with other plants around it.  “How much you wanna bet she can’t pull me out?”

Which is why once a year I gird my loins and cut back all the Amsonia—three stands of it—and in the process, remove the seeds.

Why must I gird my loins for the simple task of cutting back Amsonia?

Because of the white, sticky sap.

It’s like white glue. It is sticky. And messy. And sticky. And will get all over you and whatever pruners you use to cut back the stems.

I gird my loins by donning a long-sleeve T-shirt, a pair of long pants, a baseball cap, and gardening gloves, and grabbing some spare pruners.  I choose only those items that I don’t care about getting Amsonia glue sap on. Because it is sticky and it will stain.

I generally make “cutting back the Amsonia” the last gardening task of the day because after I’m done, my clothes are covered with sticky glue sap.  I then go inside and put those clothes directly in the washer and clean myself up.  If I am lucky and was well girded, I don’t end up with the glues sap on my skin.

Amsonia isn’t for the timid gardener.  It can become a massive clump over time. A clump that is almost impossible to dig out without jackhammers. Therefore, it must be cut back every year to prevent it from self-sowing its way to garden domination, one seedling at a time. I admit after being cut back, Amsonia doesn’t look all that great, but over the course of a few weeks, it will sprout some new shoots and begin to look a little less hacked-back

So why plant Amsonia?

Because it has lovely blue flowers in the spring and is one of the only perennial flowers to have actual fall foliage color.

And it is a native wildflower.

Speaking of wildflowers, this is Wildflower Wednesday! Hop on over to Clay and Limestone to see who else is writing about wildflowers today.

Then if you have Amsonia in your garden, gird your loins and cut that thing back so it doesn’t self-sow all over the garden!

********
This week’s podcast episode from The Gardenangelists  is all about edible flowers, basil, and behaving yourself while touring other people’s gardens!  
Oh, you haven’t listened to one of our podcast episodes yet? How about starting with our special weeding episode?  We wrote and recorded it specifically to help encourage you as you weed. It lasts just long enough for a decent weeding session. Listen every time you weed. With this episode, we want to do for weeding what Jane Fonda did for working out with her videos back in the 90s!  If you like it, please share it with others.  Thank you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: wildflower wednesday, wildflowers

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gail says

    June 27, 2019 at 3:02 am

    I never noticed the white substance when cutting it back, but, then, I never cut it back;) Happy WW. gail

    Reply
  2. Covegirl says

    June 27, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    I had 2 plants at my previous residence. I loved them. I agree with Gail. I never noticed the sap, because I never cut it back. Thanks for the heads up, though!

    Reply
  3. Lisa at Greenbow says

    June 28, 2019 at 10:59 am

    I think I won't try this one, unless I don't cut it back.

    Reply
  4. Lea @ Lea's Menagerie says

    June 28, 2019 at 4:03 pm

    Pretty blooms!
    I am adding the Beautyberry that is blooming here in northeast Mississippi to Gail's Wildflower Wednesday Linky.
    Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  5. Jayne says

    June 28, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    Makes me wonder how the subsequent owner of. My former arden has dealt with the amsonia ia I left behind. Oh well, she cut down all of my crab apples, so I have no pity for her.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,065)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Sign up for my new substack newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT