Native Perennial
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist
Soil Type: Moist, well-drained, clays. Tolerates lime.
Height: 3-5'
Bloom Time: May-July
Bloom Color: blue, purple
Attracts: Butterflies, bees
Pollinator Benefits: nectar source; larval host for Frosted Elfin, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Hoary Edge Skipper, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Eastern Tailed-Blue butterflies
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Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis) Rising 2-4 ft. high from a woody base, blue wild indigo is a bushy, robust perennial. Flowers are blue-purple and pea-like, congested in dense, upright, terminal spikes, 4-16 in. long. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. In late fall the plant turns silvery-gray, sometimes breaking off at ground level and tumbling about in the wind.