Baptisia Plant
Profile
False Indigo (Baptisia
spp.) is a low-maintenance, deer-resistant plant that looks wonderful in a
mixed perennial garden. It is also known as wild indigo.
The common name stems from that fact that the Native
Americans and early settlers used the plant to create colorful dyes.
The genus Baptisia is a US native that occurs naturally east
of the Rocky Mountains. They are hardy from USDA Zones 4-8.
Baptisia is known as a long-lived plant with deep roots, so
be sure you place it where you want to keep it for several decades.
Those deep roots also make it a very drought-tolerant and
tough plant. It prefers to be planted in full sun and is not picky about soil
type, as long as it is well-draining.
It can take a few years for a young plant to fill out on
top, while it establishes those roots. But after year three in the garden, it
should be about three feet wide and four to five feet high.
It dies back to the ground in the winter and reemerges with
tall flower spikes in the spring. By summer, the flowers have turned to seed pods,
which are quite attractive themselves and make a satisfying rattle-like noise
in the breeze.
Baptisia is a terrific addition to a pollinator garden. It
is the host plant for several caterpillars of moths and butterflies.
In 2016, the Mt. Cuba Center published the results of their Baptisia
trials and the top-rated plants included ’Screamin’ Yellow’, ‘Lemon Meringue’,
‘Ivory Towers’, ‘Blue Towers’, ‘Purple Smoke’, and ‘Cherries Jubilee’.
Baptisia: You Can
Grow That!
The video
was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant
Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.
Video and audio/text by Kathy Jentz
Edit by Taylor Edwards
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