Baptisia australis
Blue false indigo, Plains false indigo, Blue wild indigo
Also known as Baptisia minor
- Height × spread
- 1.2m × 0.6m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Flowers
- Spring, Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
<I>Baptisia australis</I> looks a bit like a lupin, but with more refined ways. The foliage of this plant is fresh green in spring and matures to glaucous blue. It remains clean and fresh looking right through the summer. It is therefore a good soothing colour to tone down excitable reds in the garden. The lupin-like indigo blue flowers are held in slim spires that within the foliage, so one doesn't get the strong vertical lines of the classical lupins. Black seedpods follow the flowers. These rustle when the breezes touch them and last well into the autumn.
- Flower colour
- Blue
- Foliage colour
- Blue
- Spring foliage
- Green-pale
- Stem colour
- Green, Grey
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 1.2m
- Spread
- 0.6m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Spring, Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Wild flower meadow, Seaside garden, Prairie garden, Exotic garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Bee attraction
- Hazards
- No
- Pet safe
- Yes – listed in our pet-safe plants
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.