Beautiful Baptisia: A Perrenial Flower You Need to Start Growing
Baptisia, also known as False Indigo, is a garden favorite for its vibrant blooms and minimal care. But did you know it also makes a fantastic cut flower? This North American native brings a unique blend of beauty and resilience to floral arrangements, offering eye-catching blooms and interesting foliage that can elevate any bouquet.
Blooming in late spring to early summer, the tall, elegant spikes are traditionally a deep blue-purple, but many new colors, including yellow, pink, rust, and white, are now on the market. I’ve been adding to my Baptisia collection and recently planted plugs of Pink Truffles from Bluestone Perrenials.
The flowers, reminiscent of sweet peas, create an excellent line flower while the plant’s attractive, often bluish-green foliage provides a textural counterpoint.
Baptisia is a win-win — beautiful flowers for cuts, outstanding foliage throughout early summer, and don’t forget about the seed pods! If you leave some flowers on the plant, seed pods develop, adding another dimension to the plant. These pods can be left to dry on the stem and used in dried arrangements, extending the plant’s usefulness beyond its blooming period.
Tips for Growing Baptisia as a Cut Flower
Baptisia is easy to grow but can take a while to get going (it takes 3 to 4 years to bloom when grown from seed). To get flowers faster, I highly recommend purchasing plugs or mature plants from your local garden center.
- Plant them in full sun for the most flowers, though they can tolerate light shade.
- Baptisia prefers rich, well-drained soil, but they can tolerate gravelly, sandy, and loamy conditions.
- Baptisia does not like alkaline soil! They thrive in a neutral to slightly acidic environment.
- They do not require netting or support.
Once established, they require almost no care and will be an extremely long-lived perennial.
Baptisia Harvesting Notes
- Cut the stems when the flowers are just starting to open, ideally in the early morning when the stems are hydrated. You can expect a vase life of 7-10 days.
- Foliage can be harvested anytime after flowers have bloomed, though it will start to look a little shabby once peak summer heat hits.