Japanese name: ヤナギバチョウジソウ（柳葉丁子草） Scientific name:Amsonia tabernaemontana
[Overview]
A perennial 60–90 cm tall.
The whole plant is hairless.
The stem is erect.
The leaves are simple and alternate, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, with sharply pointed tips.
The leaf margins are entire.
Cymes at the stem tips bear many flowers.
The flowers are pale blue and salverform, about 2 cm across, with a long corolla tube.
The inside of the corolla tube is hairy.
The corolla is 5-lobed, and the lobes are slender and oblong.
The fruit is a slender follicle, borne in pairs.
[Uses]
The whole plant is poisonous.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by stem cuttings.
It prefers sun to partial shade and humus-rich soil that is well drained and retains moisture.
Strong direct sunlight in summer may damage the plant, so move potted plants to cool partial shade, and give plants in the ground light shading.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground as well, take care that the soil does not become too dry.
Apply base fertilizer, and also apply slow-release chemical fertilizer on the soil in spring and autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
