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| Description | Twilight Prairie Blues' False Indigo (Baptisia) is a large Baptisia that becomes covered with purple-violet flowers. Grows in slowly expanding clumps with deep and extensive root systems, and prefers not to be disturbed once established. |
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| Pronunciation | (bap-TIS-ee-uh) |
| Plant Type | Perennials Hardy, Site author's observations |
| Hardiness Zone | 4 |
| Sunlight | Best in full sun, shaded areas can produce weaker stemmed plants. |
| Moisture | average, drought tolerant once established |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Flowers | Flowers have violet-purple banner petals and wings, and the keel is yellow. They are borne on a raceme. |
| Fruit | dark seed pods that rattle in the wind |
| Leaves | bluish green, trifoliate clover-like foliage |
| Roots | Deep-rooted, small nodules on the roots house beneficial bacteria, they turn atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form for the plants. Prefers not to be moved once established. |
| Dimensions | Plants in my garden are 3-4 by 3-4 plus feet. Shrubby-like growth habit. |
| Maintenance | Forms a deep tap root, difficult to move once established |
| Propagation | U.S. Plant Patent PP19,011 was issued on July 8, 2008, cuttings |
| Cultivar Origin | Baptisia × variicolor resulted from a controlled F1 cross performed in 1998 in Glencoe, Illinois, between blue-flowered Baptisia australis (female parent) and yellow-flowered Baptisia sphaerocarpa (male parent). Introduced by Jim Ault of the Chicago Botanic Garden |
| Author's Notes | As of 2023, I have grown this plant for 17 years, and the plants are still growing strong. |
| Notes & Reference | #144-Missouri Botanical Gardens website (www.missouribotanicalgarden.org), #274-Site Authors' observations and growing experiences |
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