Baptisia australis, False Indigo

A native to the shore of NJ, this plant has deep roots, preferring sandy well-drained soil,  and is very drought tolerant. It has 30” tall blue flower spikes in May, and the foliage continues to grow to 4’. The foliage is gray green, but turns black after a heavy frost. It has a bit of a weedy look in the fall, and may look better planted around other tall plants like grasses. Favorite varieties are ‘Screaming yellow’ with bright yellow flowers, ‘Carolina moonlight’ with creamy yellow flowers, and ‘Purple smoke’ with blue flowers and growing to 36” tall.