Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic

Baptisia australis (Blue Wild Indigo) flowers in May. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2017-05-15, Glencarlyn Library Community Garden.

Baptisia australis (Blue Wild Indigo) seed pod details in June. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2015-06-16, Pollinator Garden opposite Gulf Branch Nature Center.

Baptisia australis (Blue Wild Indigo) flowers in May. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2017-05-15, Glencarlyn Library Community Garden.

Legumes dehisce along two sutures from top to bottom as illustrated by the seed pods of native Baptisia australis (blue wild indigo) in October.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Baptisia australis (Blue Wild Indigo) with Peck’s skipper. Photo © Mary Free, 2015-05-18, Sunny Garden, Bon Air Park.

Baptisia is a bold plant that in early spring produces multiple stems of beautiful gray-green foliage.  By mid-spring the foliage is topped by 1- to 2-foot flowering spikes that are a magnificent blue color.  Handsome blue-black seed pods follow the flowers and remain attractive until the first hard frost. Learn more . . .