I acquired two of these plants and put them in different spots – the soil conditions are the same – sandy, somewhat dry. The plant that’s only getting dappled sunlight in the afternoon is actually flowering, while the one that gets steady light most of the day is not showing any sign of blooming. The spikes of clear blue flowers are quite amazing. Apparently they also make great cut flowers, but I will wait a couple of seasons for the plants to become unwieldy enough. After flowering, large black seed pods set in. You can keep this native plant “au naturel” or you can shape or prune it into a more compact form. You have to wait until flowering is done! Baptisia australis can get big and floppy during flowering. It will self-seed, or you can choose to collect the seed yourself – the seed pods make collecting easy. The plant can also be divided – wait until spring to do this.
Native americans in the midwest used the plant as a source of blue dye for their clothes. This plant is not the true indigo plant: Indigofera tinctoria was introduced from India and grown for the blue dye that could be produced from it. Baptisia australis had some medicinal uses back in the day, but is considered toxic by current standards.
| Scientific name: | Baptisia australis |
| Common name: | blue false indigo |
| Other name: | false indigo, wild blue indigo |
| Bloom time: | late spring to mid summer |
| Color: | purple, blue |
| Light requirements: | full sun |
| Zone: | 3 to 10 |
| Soil: | mildly acidic to neutral |
| Water: | average water needs |
| Origin: | eastern North America, not in the Canadian maritimes or Maine |
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