australis emerging in spring.Д«ecause of its large shrub-like size, blue false indigo works well as a backdrop for other perennials. The rounded, inflated pods (R) have ornamental interested if left on the plants. After the flowers fade, pods form if pollinated (C). The big, showy seed pods can be used in dried arrangements. Plants can be cut back by about 1/3 after bloom or individual stems can be pruned out at the base of the inflorescence. The architectural appearance of the seed pods can lend winter interest but because of their heavy weight, they often cause the stems to flop over вЂ“ deadheading will eliminate this problem, as well as self-seeding. Shaking the dry pods produces a sound like a rattlesnake вЂ“ hence some of the other common names for this plant. The mature pods contain numerous, loose tan to dark brown, kidney shaped seeds. They eventually grow 2-3 inches long, changing from green to charcoal-black when they ripen in late summer or early fall. Once the flowers drop, puffy, oblong seed pods with a sharp tip at the apex develop. Flower buds emerge in late spring, with the individual, pea-like flowers opening up the spire. The color ranges from pale to intense indigo blue, with white cultivars as well. The individual flowers in these terminal racemes are about an inch long. The stems should be cut back to the ground in late fall, winter, or early spring before new shoots appear.ДЇoot-long, lupine-like spires of blue, pealike flowers are produced in mid to late spring, about a month after the leaves emerge. The foliage remains attractive all season until it dies back to the ground in the winter. The trifoliate leaves are a soft blue-green, alternate and obovate in shape (rounded but wider towards the apex). The long-lived plants grow in bushy clumps 3-4 feet tall and wide when mature. Blue false indigo in a prairie in summer.

australis was used medicinally by Native Americans as a purgative, to treat tooth aches and nausea, and as an eyewash. Other common names include blue wild indigo, indigo weed, rattleweed, rattlebush and horse fly weed. Native to eastern North American prairies, meadows, open woods and along streams, blue false indigo got its common name because it was once used as a substitute for true indigo ( Indigofera tinctoria, native to southern Asia) which was used to make blue dye. This long-lived perennial legume, hardy in zones 3 to 9, has long been a favorite, although underused, garden plant. For 2010 this is Baptisia australis, or blue false indigo. A specimen plant of blue false indigo in bloom.Д®very year the Perennial Plant Association chooses a plant of the year.

False indigo