Baptista tinctoria
Growing Information
• Plant Type: Shrub
• Sunlight: Full sun to part shade
• Soils: Well-drained average to dry
• Bloom Time: June, July
• Size: 2-3 feet tall with 2-3 foot spread
Yellow wild indigo is also called horsefly weed. It is an upright shrubby perennial with fine textured gray- green leaves and is drought tolerant. In late spring and summer, plants are adorned with many short clusters of bright or creamy yellow pea-shaped flowers. It thrives in harsh conditions and once established is durable and long lived. All Baptisia spp. are nitrogen-fixing legumes. They have a symbiotic relationship with the Rhizobium bacteria that allows them to utilize atmospheric nitrogen.
Garden Companions
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)
Nature Benefits
• Plants host caterpillars of Frosted Elfin, Wild Indigo Duskywing and Orange Sulfur butterflies as well as the caterpillars of other moths and skippers.
Native Habitat
Occurs in dry meadows, oak barrens, pine barrens, open woods, and fields.