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American Goldfinch False Indigo - Bare Root Plant

$21.10
$21.10 $41.20
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Size : Bare Root Plant
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Bare root arrives dormant

Expect new growth in 6 to 8 weeks after planting. Until then it can look lifeless, so you won’t be able to tell within 24 hours of arrival whether it will grow.

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About the Product

American Goldfinch is a big, bold native false indigo that sends up loads of bright golden yellow flower spikes for many weeks in late spring and early summer. It is one of the most free-flowering baptisias available.

Its wide habit, about three and a half feet tall and up to five feet across, makes it ideal for filling large spaces, meadow plantings, mass plantings or as a specimen. Round seed pods follow in fall. Once established it is very long lived, drought tolerant and practically care free, and deer leave it alone.

What it looks like

Upright, lupine-like spikes 10 to 12 inches long densely set with pea-shaped flowers in bright golden yellow, rising above the foliage on sturdy stems. Leaves are three-parted with oval leaflets in medium to blue-green, forming a dense, shrub-like mass. The plant is wide and mounded, 36 to 42 inches tall and 54 to 60 inches wide. At peak bloom dozens of golden spikes cover the broad mound; round seed pods follow later.

Growing it with lavender

American Goldfinch thrives in the same sunny, lean, well-drained soil as lavender, and its golden spikes open just before lavender blooms, then its bushy blue-green foliage makes a sturdy backdrop behind lavender all summer.

Care

Plant in full sun to part shade in lean to average, well-drained soil; the deep taproot makes it drought tolerant once established. Hardy in USDA zones 4-9. Choose a permanent spot, since established plants do not like to be moved; expect a couple of seasons to settle in, and cut back in late fall or leave the seed pods for winter interest.

At a glance

  • Botanical name: Baptisia
  • Flower color: Golden yellow
  • Foliage: Blue-green
  • Growth habit: Wide, shrub-like mound
  • Mature size: 36–42 in tall × 54 in–5 ft wide
  • USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
  • Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
  • Bloom start: Late-May
  • Peak bloom: Early-June
  • Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
  • Deer resistance: Resistant
  • Pollinator value: Great

Sizes and shipping

Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.

View Product Details
Mature height
42.0 in
Mature spread
60.0 in
Bloom
Late-May – peak Early-June
Fragrance
None
Deer
Resistant

Lavender companion · grow guide

How to grow American Goldfinch

False Indigo · Baptisia

False indigo wants full sun and a permanent spot. It grows a deep taproot, so it is slow the first couple of years, then becomes a long-lived, drought-tolerant, shrub-sized perennial.

Check my zone & planting dates
American Goldfinch
  • Full sunLight
  • Moderate waterAverage drainage
  • pH 5.5–7.5Soil
  • Zones 4a–9bHardiness
  • 42″ tall60″ wide
  • ResistantDeer · rabbits resistant
  • Mildly toxicPets
Huckleberry, the farm dog

Huckleberry saysTell me where you grow and I’ll check if American Goldfinch will thrive there.

Hardy in zones 4a–9b

Spring or early fall. Choose the spot carefully; mature plants resent moving.

Dormant bare-root false indigo as it arrives, laid on burlap

When it arrives

Your bare-root plant

Arrives as thick, dark, woody roots with a knobby crown and pink-white buds or old stem stubs. Soak 30 minutes, dig a deep hole, keep roots pointing down and buds about 1 in deep. Water in; growth can take weeks.

Expect new growth in 6 to 8 weeks after planting. Bare root ships March–May while dormant, with little or no top growth, and it can look lifeless until then. That’s normal. Thick, asparagus-like shoots push up in mid-spring, often purple-gray at first. Young plants may send up only a few stems; blooms usually start the second or third year.

You won’t be able to tell within 24 hours of arrival whether a dormant plant will grow.

When to plant

Spring or early fall. Choose the spot carefully; mature plants resent moving.

How deep

Set the crown so the pinkish buds sit about 1 in below the soil surface, with the long roots pointing straight down in a deep hole.

Spacing

About 3–4 ft apart; mature plants are shrub-sized.

Soil

Average loam; tolerates clay, rocky and poor soils · pH 5.5–7.5

Fix-it tip: It fixes its own nitrogen, so skip rich amendments. Loosen soil deeply for the taproot. NC State lists slightly acidic soil as best, but it adapts widely.

Sun

Full sun (tolerates part sun).

In shade, stems get leggy and the plant flops open after bloom.

Dormant
New growth

Don’t give up on it

Is it alive? What spring looks like

Thick, asparagus-like shoots push up in mid-spring, often purple-gray at first. Young plants may send up only a few stems; blooms usually start the second or third year.

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