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Baptisia alba var. alba

 
Baptisia alba var. alba
white false indigo
Baptisia alba var. alba

Synonym(s) Baptisia pendula
Common name white false indigo
Family fabaceae
Life cycle perennial
Flowers white (early summer)
Size 4' tall, 2' wide
Light full sun
Cultural notes well-drained soil; drought-tolerant; taprooted
From seed scarify, then germinate at room temperature or with bottom heat
detailed seed-starting info below
Seed ripensearly August

Great plant! Purple stems, BRIGHT white pea flowers in summer, followed by hanging black seedpods. Stays compact and neat. Despite many attempts to grow more from seed, we still have only our original plant - the seedlings I manage to raise just don't seem to survive through their first full season. But I keep on trying!

white false indigo
Blue-black seedpods in early August
Baptisia alba var. alba
This visitor is Erynnis baptisiae, the false indigo duskywing skipper. I'm glad that our plant accommodated this flighty little dame.
white false indigo
Mysterious dark buds - who would guess there are ivory-white flowers tucked inside?
Baptisia alba var. alba
Bulky peas. Only a small fraction of flowers produce pods in our case - possibly because we have just one plant.

We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston.

One or more images of this plant are included in my stock photo catalog

About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Baptisia alba var. alba


Seed-starting details for this plant

  1. Seed from '03 garden. Baggy 65F (33%G, 25-56d) - 75F (67%G, 3-28d)
  2. Same seed as above. Pot 65F (12d) - to outside in winter. 16%G in second half of May
  3. Seed from '04 garden. Baggy 65F (40%G, 17-20d)
  4. Seed from '06 garden. Baggy w PGX mix, 75F (39%G, 19-34d)
  5. Seed from '08 garden. Lightly sandpapered, soaked 2d (a few swelled). Baggy 75F (60%G, 6-52d). Some only germinated after a second round of sandpaper scarification


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