Baptisia australis - Blue Wild Indigo, Blue False Indigo

Please note: All plants pre-ordered online will be available for in-person pickup at our office (3257 West 41st Street Cleveland, OH 44109) the last week in May/first weekend in June. We will reach out to everyone who purchased plants to arrange a pick-up time. Plant orders cannot be shipped, and plants will not be included in shipping costs of orders that include other items from our shop.

Like most of its genus, Baptisia australis spends its first few years developing mostly below ground. The branching foliage and blossoms become showier and more developed with each subsequent growing season. For potted seedlings, this means they may have shorter, possibly floppy stems for the first couple of years before taking on a shrubbier appearance. Probably the most familiar and wide-ranging of Baptisias, Blue Wild Indigo can provide an early deep blue flare in spring in native plantings where its bushy structure complements summer bloomers. In addition to its many pollinators, Wild Blue Indigo is one of the host plants for the Wild Indigo Duskywing. A great deer-resistant plant!

Their 4' height and branching habit make wide spacing advisable in most home landscaping.

Flowers are blue-purple and pea-like, congested in dense, upright, terminal spikes. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. In late fall the plant turns a beautiful silvery-gray, making them ideal for dried floral arrangements.

Our plants are grown in Rust Belt Rider’s Tilth soil using organic practices, inoculated with beneficial endomycorrhizal fungi and planted in eco-friendly, biodegradable 4” or 6” pots.

1st Year: A traditional plant start in a 4” pot.

2nd Year: 2-year-old plants in a half-gallon pot. These plants are larger, have been overwintered, and have more established roots.

Your purchase helps support our nonprofit's educational programming. With each native you plant, you help provide a healthy ecosystem that creates important food, shelter, and medicine and improves habitats for Ohio pollinators. Thank you for your support – happy planting!