Wild Indigo | Baptisia

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Gardening | Plant ID

BAPTISIA

MSU Horticulture Gardens (zone 5)                                                                                                                              Photograph by Jeanette Hyden                                                             

Baptisia 'Purple Smoke'

is a distinctive perennial that produces enchanting smoky violet flowers with a purple eye on strongly upright, charcoal-grey stems up to 1 1/2 feet long. They are held just above the dense, bushy mounds of grey-green foliage from mid to late spring.

       Baptisia Seed Pod         

Baptisias, also known as false or wild indigos, are a group of large, long-lived perennials. They provide an extended season of interest from flowers and foliage. 

Blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis) and yellow wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) were used to produce a blue dye by Native Americans. The True indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) produces a better quality blue dye. 

In a large expanse of the Eastern United States, the Baptisias were known to repopulate burned areas. It was an important plant for honey production. The horseflyweed, Baptisia tinctoria, are the most attractive Baptisia to honeybees.
The botanical name Baptisia originates from the Greek word bapto, meaning, to dye or to dip.

MSU Horticulture Gardens (zone 5)                                                                                            Photograph by Jeanette Hyden 
Baptisia 'Purple Smoke'

As the summer moves on, the seeds of the Baptisia form in an upright pod and add an interesting form and color to the landscape. The pods form a vivid green color and mature into a dark blue shade as the warm August summer reminds us of the coming harvest season.The false indigo to the left has been passed down for four generations.




Landscape design in full sun, using wild indigo in a raised mound with other perennials or groundcover. I was pleased to see Miranda Brooks, using Baptisia in Anna Wintour's, wild butterfly garden.

RESOURCES:

Baptisia, Research Report, Mt. Cuba Center, 2016.

• Mt. Cuba Center 
• The Chicago Botanical Garden Trial Results
• NATURAL HYBRIDIZATION AMONG THREE SYMPATRIC BAPTISIA (FABACEAE) SPECIES IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS. MATTHEW A. KOSNIK, GEORGE M. DIGGS, JR., PEGGY A. REDSHAW and BARNEY L. LIPSCOMB SIDA, Contributions to Botany Vol. 17, No. 2 (December, 1996)