Soil: sand to clay

Light: Full sun to part sun

Bloom colour: white, yellow, blue

Bloom period: June

Height: 1 to 5 feet

Moisture: Usually dry to medium

Attracts: A variety of bees, butterflies, .

Notes:

What you get with Baptisia is beautiful thick foliage that stays in good condition throughout the summer even in full sun. The tips of the stalks start to show early in the spring and then there is a period of waiting until they start to grow in earnest. I presume that during this time, the flower buds are developing because you can see the thickened stems that will go on to bear flowers when they are only a few inches high. The taller ones actually flower in springtime so they grow quickly.

Baptisia australis is often mentioned as an alternative to lupines, which are rather particular in their growth requirements. Baptisia australis, on the other hand, is very easy to grow, especially in clay. Compared to other perennials, it takes longer to bloom depending on the conditions. In more water retentive soils, it will bloom in under 5 years but in sand, it may take 10 years to flower. It is a long-lived plant and the development of the deep taproot takes priority over the formation of blooms. It can survive in dry sandy soil, once established but it will look better if given some supplemental watering in a period of hot dry weather.

The individual flowers are pea shaped and they grow on many terminal racemes so that when in bloom, the plant looks stunning. It is one of the few native plants to be named the perennial of the year. The flowers turn into pods that will provide additional interest.

Baptisia alba is sometimes planted. It is slightly taller, being able to reach 6 feet tall in ideal conditions and it has better drought resistance than B. australis. In all other respects, it is similar to B. australis except that the flowers are white.

Baptisia tinctoria is the only species native to Ontario and it is a rare plant in the wild with only a few known populations. It is a low growing species with yellow flowers that exists naturally on prairies and savannahs so it grows well in dry soils. Whereas the B. alba and B. australis are clumping, B. tinctoria slowly spreads through a strong root system. The Frosted Elfin butterfly, which feeds on both lupines and Baptisia, has been extirpated from Ontario due to the rarity of both of these plants in the province. Another plant to consider in the mid-west is Baptisia bracteata. which is a beautiful slightly prostrate plant with cream flowers.