Description
Baptisia – False Indigo – Wild Indigo –
There are about 30 species of erect or spreading perennials, in this genus. They occur in poor, gravelly soils in dry woodland and grassland in Eastern, Central and Souther USA, with a few species in river valleys. They have alternate, fully divided, 3 palmate leaves and tall branched stems bearing terminal or axillary racemes of blue, purple, yellow or white, pea like flowers, over a fairly long summer season. The flowers are followed by large often inflated pods. Grow in an informal border, open, hillside site, wild garden, or on a dry, sunny bank.
Grow in open, porous, neutral, preferably sandy soil in full sun. Deadhead after flowering. Divide in early spring.
Prone to weevils, fungal leaf spots, powdery mildew, and rust.
B. alba – This bushy, upright perennial from Southeastern USA grows 2-4′ feet tall and 2′ feet wide. It produces palmate leaves, consisting of 3 obovate to narrowly elliptic-lance shaped, bluish green leaflets, 2″ long. In early summer it bears racemes of up to 20 pea like, white flowers, to 3/4″ long, sometimes with a purple streak on the standard petals.
Zones 3-9
