Soil
These deep rooted perennials require freely draining soil, however will tolerate clay, loam, or sandy substrate so long as drainage is ample and there’s no standing water.
Whereas it doesn’t require excessive fertility, false indigo will develop sooner and bloom extra abundantly in soil that comprises some natural matter.
Water
Through the first yr, maintain the soil reasonably moist to assist the basis system grow to be established.
After that, these vegetation are extremely drought tolerant and sometimes require no supplemental water until circumstances are extraordinarily dry.
Fertilizer
Resist the urge to fertilize false indigo. Except you’re rising in very poor, sandy soils, these vegetation won’t want any further feeding.
When you discover poor development, you possibly can high costume with a number of inches of well-rotted manure or compost in spring and fall.
Cultivars to Choose
Blue false indigo (B. australis) is the species mostly discovered at nurseries and backyard facilities.
Blue False Indigo
This species is a dependable bloomer with deep blue spires and tops out at 4 ft tall and broad.
You will discover vegetation out there in #1 containers at Nature Hills Nursery.
There are a couple of cultivated varieties price in search of out, together with:
Lemon Meringue
‘Lemon Meringue’ is a yellow-flowering Baptisia hybrid that’s a part of the Decadence® sequence. The lemon-colored blooms are held on three-feet-tall, charcoal coloured stems.
‘Lemon Meringue’
This dense and compact cultivar is particularly vigorous and floriferous.
You will discover ‘Lemon Meringue’ vegetation out there at Nature Hills Nursery.
Twilite Prairieblues
Twilite Prairieblues™ is a B. australis cultivar, bred by the Chicago Botanic Backyard. It’s extra dense and bushy than the species and grows as much as 5 ft tall and broad.
Twilite Prairieblues
In season, it’s coated with purple and yellow bicolored flowers. You’ll generally see this one listed as ‘Twilight Prairieblues’ or ‘Twilight Prairie Blues.’
You will discover vegetation out there at Burpee.
Upkeep
As soon as established, false indigo requires completely no upkeep besides for infrequent watering throughout dry spells.
After flowering, enable the spent blooms to show into lovely, darkish seed pods and don’t be tempted to prune useless stems again till new development emerges in spring.
Many helpful bugs, together with native bees use useless stems as shelter by winter, and the charcoal coloured pods add texture to the low season backyard.
Propagation
There are two main methods to get false indigo began in your house backyard, one more durable than the opposite.
You may both begin from seed, which takes time and isn’t all the time very simple or dependable, or you should purchase nursery begins for transplanting.
Let’s focus on every:
From Seed
Seed might be harvested in the summertime when the seed pods are darkish, agency, and beginning to cut up open.
When you gather seed, you’ll have to cold-stratify it for at the least eight weeks earlier than sowing.
You are able to do this both by sowing in flats and leaving them outdoors for the winter or placing them within the fridge in a zip-top bag with some moist vermiculite.
To let nature do the chilly stratification for you, fill a flat with moistened potting soil and sow the seeds just under the floor. Place the flat outdoors in a brightly lit, sheltered location.
Ideally, the seeds will keep constantly chilly all winter lengthy, so maintain them away from any south-facing partitions that will elevate the temperature an excessive amount of on sunny days.
Make sure the soil stays moist, however not soaking moist. If it freezes, that’s advantageous, when heat and longer days arrive, the seeds will germinate.
