The Mystery of the Blue False Indigo©
Posted: Saturday, September 06, 2008
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
About five years ago a plant grew in one of my big planters near our front door. It eventually grew to be about four feet high and about four feet wide. It was beautiful with blue green leaves and bluish-purple flowers on spikes that were similar to a lupine.
I did not know what it was since I did not plant it there and it seemed to take care of itself as it apparently was drought resistant. It just seemed to thrive on whatever rain we got. Everyone admired it and no one seemed to know what it was, especially me. I tried to look it up and could not find it.
Towards the end of the fall it got seed pods on it, lots of them and it was getting pretty bushy and floppy prior to that so Carl had wired it up and the cane-like stalks were left to sit out the winter.
The following spring I noticed some new growth at the base of the stalks and further observations and poking around proved that the cane-like stalks just broke off at their base, so I cleaned it all up only to discover that once again we were treated to a four foot tall beauty loaded with bluish-purple flowers. Again it had to be wired up because it was pretty floppy in the second year, again lots of admiration and no identification and people took some of the seed pods home with them when they came in the fall.
In the third season I removed the stalks in the spring because more growth was peeking up through the ground. Then one day a customer came to the studio to pick up a commission painting I had done for her and she looked at those beautiful bluish-purple flowers and said, "Oh, I see you have a False Indigo." Finally, I was able to give this mystery plant an identity.
That season it did not seem to get to be too floppy and the cane-like stalks held their head high and produced many bluish-purple blossoms.
Now I know a lot more about False Indigo. It likes full sun. It takes a year to establish a tap root. It re-seeds itself each year. Each spring I cut back the stalks and it is now in its fifth season and it looks like it will do its thing again this year.
The flowers last about 3 weeks and they make nice cut flowers and the plant makes a nice addition to a perennial garden. Should you plant any seeds they plant them in a place where they will have space because this plant of ours takes up about four feet by four feet.
The False Indigo grows very close at the base and fans out and as I said the first two years it was very floppy and those four foot stalks were falling over into our walkways as this planter is between two walkways.
It will grow in zones 3 to 9 and the common name is Blue False Indigo and the Latin name is Baptisia australis. Once the tap root has taken hold this is not a plant to transplant. Just put it where you will always enjoy it.
In the early days, Americans used this plant as a substitute for true Indigo in making dyes. This plant is apparently disease and pest free and it seems to be deer-resistant.
I have since discovered there is one that bears yellow blooms and that is called Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight' and there is one that blooms in June with white flowers called Baptisia lacteal.
You can start the False Indigo from seed or you can buy the plant in a container. I have never seen any at my favorite garden centers. However, I know many on-line nurseries carry it.
How it ever got into my garden is a total mystery to me, but I am glad that it did as I look forward each year to its spectacular show of flowers just outside our doorway!
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime… May your day be filled with… Peace, Light and Love,
(Pastel Painting of False Indigo by author)
Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com
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