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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.

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