‘Storm Cloud’ Eastern Bluestar Is a Must-Grow Perennial
‘Storm Cloud’ eastern bluestar blooms heavily in spring and demands nothing from the gardener throughout even dry summers.
‘Storm Cloud’ eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana 'Storm Cloud' is an award-winning cultivar of a native species. This shrubby perennial is a garden workhorse that will be admired from spring through fall. Its main attribute is its medium blue spring flowers, which occur on dramatic dark stems. Its leaves are an olive green that complements both the near-black stems and the rich blue flowers, and its size makes it a great backdrop for smaller summer bloomers.
Common name: 'Storm Cloud' eastern bluestar
Botanical name: Amsonia tabernaemontana 'Storm Cloud'
Origin: Amsonia tabernaemontana is a three-foot, clumping perennial native to the Mid-Atlantic, lower Midwest and Southeast, where it grows in wet sites including open woods and sandy plains. 'Storm Cloud' is a Proven Winners introduction released in 2016. It was originally found blooming along a woodland stream bank in Alabama by Hans Hansen and Tony Avent, who collected divisions, trialed them and selected the best to clone. This cultivar won a Theodore Klein Plant Award in 2025 and was named a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Medal Plant in 2026.
Flowers: Rounded heads of star-shaped blue flowers open in late spring, covering the plant entirely and lasting over a long period.
Foliage: Not as fine-textured as Amsonia hubrichtii, this species puts out upright stems clad in long, narrow, willow-like leaves. These change from medium green to a nice, warm yellow color in fall.
Size and habit: 24 to 36 inches tall; 38 to 42 inches wide
Related: For a smaller bluestar, check out 'Starstruck'.
Growing 'Storm Cloud' eastern bluestar
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
How to grow it: Like the straight species, ‘Storm Cloud’ is a long-lived perennial that needs space but may take a few seasons to hit full steam. Site it accordingly, or plant it with shorter-lived companions that can be pulled out once it reaches its full size and potential.
The special stem color of ‘Storm Cloud’ make it a shoe-in for combinations involving bulbs and other spring-blooming perennials. Early- to mid-spring-blooming miniature daffodils pair well with its emerging stems. Other good spring companions include the low-growing, mat-forming Veronica ‘Waterperry Blue’ and bugleweeds (Ajuga reptans) such as ‘Chocolate Chip’, ‘Catlins Giant’ and ‘Black Scallop’. All of these will echo the colors of ‘Storm Cloud’. A good large neighbor can be found among the false indigos (Baptisia), whose bloom time overlaps with that of eastern bluestar.
To keep this perennial neat and compact, cut it back by half after it finishes flowering. Full sun promotes its best growth habit and heaviest flowering. It will take part shade, but it may become loose and floppy there and require staking. A peony cage or hoop-style support works well. Eastern bluestar is a pest-free plant that prefers moist soil but easily tolerates drought once established. It can also bear short periods of flooding, given that its natural habitat includes floodplains. USDA Zones 4–9.
