Bastard Indigo

Other names

False Indigo, Indigo Bush

Growth habit

Shrub

Perennation

Long-lived polycarpic perennial

Native distribution

Not Native to the Finger Lakes Region, Sask. South to FL and Mex.

Location

Mundy Wildflower Garden, Houston and Grossman Ponds

Source of plant

We-Du Nurseries

Description

Ungainly deciduous shrub reaching 6' to 20' in height, 5' to 15' in width, with an ungainly leggy chatracterwith the bulk of the foliage carried on the upper 1/3 of the plant. Foliage light bright green in summer,slightly yellowish in fall, late to leaf out; foliage turns brown after a hard frost. Flowers perfect,purplish-blue with orange anthers, each flower 1/3" long, borne in 3" to 6" long, upright spikes in June;not extremely showy but of an unusual color. Fruit a small, 1/3" long, warty, kidney-shaped pod,persisting into the winter, and offering a good identification feature.

USDA Hardiness Zone

4

Status

G5