From away to garden.com and Robinhood Radio.com, this is Away to Garden with Margaret

Roach.

You're a weekly invitation to dig in and grow.

Early on in making my garden decades ago, I bought a nursery pot of blue star or amsonia

at a native plant sale and planted it in a border here.

It has never asked anything of me, never had any pests or diseases, and just keeps delivering sky blue spring flowers and vivid gold fall color year in and year out and looking pretty handsome

in between. My very unofficial results with my Amsonia would not surprise today's guest,

Sam Hodley,

of Mt. Cuban Native Plant Center in Delaware, whose trial garden team there just completed

a ten-year evaluation of a range of blue stars.

More in a moment about these beautiful and reliable native plants, but first, these messages.

Underwriting support for a way to garden provided by Colorblends wholesale flower bulbs. A third-generation bulb company offering top-sized flower bulbs directly to landscape professionals

and ambitious residential gardeners at wholesale prices.

On the web, Colorblends.com

And by high-moving seeds, Wolcott Vermont offering 30 new seed varieties for 2024. Professional quality vegetable, flour, and herbal seeds that are 100% organic and non-GMO

project verified.

On the web, highmoingseeds.com.

And by Whiteflower Farm, offering a wide range of carefully selected and expertly grown

garden plants.

On the web,flower farm dot com.

20 different amsonia were studied over a just completed 10-year trial at Mount Cuba Center,

the renowned native plant garden and research facility,

...