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Plant · P-943
Blue Wild Indigo
Baptisia australis
Blue wild indigo is a slow-growing, nitrogen-fixing perennial in the pea family grown for its blue-purple pea-like flowers and as a traditional source of blue dye. Native to eastern and central North America from Pennsylvania to Georgia and west to Texas, Nebraska and Indiana, it rises from a woody base into a bushy clump. It wants full sun and light sandy to medium loamy, well-drained soil, tolerating both dry and consistently moist conditions once its deep taproot is established.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 7–7
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3–4 ft
- Mature spread
- 3–4 ft
- Plant spacing
- 24–35 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
Herbaceous · USDA 3–11
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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