A native perennial that is becoming more popular with each year is the deer-resistant baptisia (Baptisia australis), also known as false indigo. People are discovering this upright beauty and are appreciating it for its heat and drought tolerance, long life, resilience to pests, and handsome blue-green foliage and gorgeous pea-like flowers. It grows 3 to 4 feet tall, is sun loving, and does best in poor or lean soils. Baptisia flowers are borne on sturdy spikes in late spring to early summer. The flowers come in purple-blue, white, or yellow. They give way to 2- to 3-inch-long, blackish seedpods that rattle in the wind in late fall. Baptisia was the PPA 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year.
Baptisia is drought tolerant due to its long taproot and large root system that helps it survive long dry periods during the summer. But this feature also makes it hard to transplant. In other words, once you plant baptisia, it is very hard to move. Add to that is the fact that it grows large, almost like a shrub. You must be extra thoughtful about where you plant it! Baptisia can be grown as a backdrop in perennial borders or together in groups as a specimen planting for maximum effect. It is also suited for native or meadow plantings.
If you have a small outdoor space, it is a good idea to plant one of the baptisia cultivars that are more compact. The Decadence baptisia series has bushy hybrids that come in a delicious array of colors. The flowers have a light fragrance. They grow to 2½ to 3 feet tall, and they are hardy in USDA zones 4–9.
Baptisia, a native plant, is a magnet for butterflies. It provides early season nectar to a variety of butterflies and pollinators. It is also important as a food source for the caterpillars of orange sulphur, eastern tailed-blue, and wild indigo dusky wing butterflies.
The native white wild indigo (Baptisia alba) has unusual charcoal-gray stems and pea-like white blossoms on erect spikes above mounded blue-green foliage. It blooms from May to July and attracts and hosts numerous insects including the wild indigo dusky wing and orange sulfur caterpillars. It grows up to 4 feet tall in full sun. After the first frost, the entire shrub-like plant turns black, adding a stunning contrast to grasses and native goldenrod in late fall. Zones 4–9.