• Height: 3-4 ft
  
• Spread: 3-4 ft
  
• Light: Full sun-Part shade
  
• Soil: Dry-Average, Well drained
  
• Zone: 3-9
  
• Deer Resistance: Moderate
  
• Deciduous
• Native

Spring brings a flush of blue spikes of flowers that resemble lupines. Blooms will usually last into early summer then they start to form seed pods. These seed pods are a unique feature. A puffed-up pod will form that houses the seeds, typically black to almost black in color. When the seeds are ripe you can hear them rattle around inside the pods. Many people do decide to cut off the seed heads to give a more orderly appearance. Once Baptisia is out of bloom it looks like a nice little shrub with its bright green foliage.  

A good plant to have in butterfly gardens as it is a host plant for several different species including Wild Indigo Duskywing and Clouded Sulphur. The flowers are also enjoyed by many pollinators like bees. Birds and small mammals will enjoy the seeds once the pods open up.

False Indio plants are extremely drought tolerant once they are established in the garden. These plants form a long tap root that plunges into the soil and can reach water sources some other plants simply can't get. This is also a good plant for planting in poor soils, its root system has special nodules that make it a nitrogen fixing plant!