Easy Blooms

Even the hottest, driest summers can't kill this tough plant.

Like many Southern gardeners, Tony Avent Lof Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina, grew up coveting lupines, those impossibly beautiful spires of flowers that grace the gardens of New England.

"Trouble is," says Tony, "down here, lupines look so bad that if they don't die themselves, you want to commit a mercy killing. So I said to myself, 'What can we find that looks like lupines, but we rednecks can grow it?' " He settled on the genus Baptisia, granting it the title "redneck lupine."

Also known as false or wild indigo, baptisia consists of a number of native species renowned for handsome, pealike foliage and showy spring flowers. Most common in gardens is blue wild indigo (B. australis). The largest species, it eventually forms a clump 4 to 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide. While Tony likes this big boy just fine, he likes others even more.

Top of the Charts

First on the list is dwarf false indigo (B. minor), essentially a half-size edition of blue wild indigo with smaller leaves; more upright flower spikes; and large, ornamental, black seedpods. It's a good choice for small gardens.

Another winner is white false indigo (B. alba). Eighteen-inch spires of white stand tall atop nearly vertical, gray-green stems. 'Wayne's World' grows about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

Or try yellow wild indigo (B. sphaerocarpa). It grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide with a mounding shape. 'Screaming Yellow' combines 11inch spikes of blinding yellow blooms with handsome green foliage.

Real Keepers

Baptisias cross-pollinate with abandon, occasionally producing superior progeny. 'Carolina Moonlight,' a cross between B. alba and B. sphaerocarpa, sports soft yellow flowers and blue-green foliage. 'Purple Smoke,' a hybrid of B. alba and B. minor, offers purple flowers and gray-green stems.

Simple To Grow

Few plants tolerate summer heat and drought as well as redneck lupines. "My first trip to collect baptisia seeds was to Melissa, Texas, around the end of July," recalls Tony. "They'd had 50 consecutive days of over 100 degrees and no rain for 4 months, but the baptisias looked perfect."

Plenty of sun is about all these perennials demand. They grow in almost any soil almost anywhere (except the Tropical South) and have no serious pests. Tony says that if plants fail, they were likely grown from cuttings, which produce short-lived plants. Buy baptisias grown from tissue culture or seeds instead.

Each year, reliable redneck lupines grow in stature and beauty. "They're like having a horticultural IRA," Tony notes. "They just get better and better and better." -STEVE BENDER

Where To Find Them

You can purchase baptisias from Plant Delights, (919) 772-4794 or www.plant delights.com, and Niche Gardens, (919) 967-0078 or www.niche gardens.com.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2006
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