Blue Wild Indigo

Perennial  •  $6, 4-inch pot

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Height	3 to 4 ft
Spacing	3 to 4 ft
Sun Exposure	Full to Part Sun
Soil Moisture	Medium
Bloom Color	Blue-Purple
Bloom Time	May, June
Companion Plantings	Foxglove Beardtongue, Lanceleaf Tickseed
Special Attributes

Baptisia australis

Blue Wild Indigo is an herbaceous perennial but has a much more shrub-like appearance at maturity, with an upright habit and height & spread of 3 to 4 feet. This plant takes several years for its extensive root system to develop and will not put on much above-ground growth during this time, but the wait is well worth it; long stunning spikes of deep blueish-purple racemes erupt from mature plants in late spring and are very showy. Blue False Indigo attracts bumblebees and is a host plant to at least 19 species of butterflies and moths in the Kentuckiana area, including Wild Indigo Duskywing, Orange and Clouded Sulphur, Io Moth, and Jaguar Flower Moth.

Mature seed pods have been used as rattles for children in indigenous cultures. The common name refers to the use of the flowers in making a dye similar to that of true Indigo (spp. Indigofera).

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