12 Best Plants for Black Thumbs

(Amsonia)

Native to the Southeast, these tough plants have narrow leaves topped by sprays of small, star-shaped blue flowers. Hubricht's Bluestar (A. hubrichtii) is one of the best. It's also known a threadleaf bluestar because of its soft, needlelike leaves, which turn bright gold in fall. The flowers are sky blue. A. tabernaemontana has steel blue to lavender-blue flowers.

Grows to 2-3 feet high. Prefers full sun to light shade; regular to moderate water. Perennial in zones 4-10.