Burgundy Blast brings a new color to false indigo, with dark wine purple flowers that lean redder than typical purple baptisias. The rich blooms appear in late spring and early summer over very dark blue-green foliage.
It grows into a full, shrub-like mound about three to three and a half feet tall and wide, so it can stand in for a shrub in the landscape. Use it in meadow plantings, as a border backdrop or as a specimen. It is long lived, easy care and deer resistant.
What it looks like
Upright spikes 8 to 12 inches long of pea-shaped flowers in dark wine purple with a burgundy red tone, held above the foliage on dark stems. Leaves are three-parted with oval leaflets in very dark blue-green. The plant is a full, rounded, shrub-like mound 36 to 42 inches tall and wide. At peak bloom the dark mound is topped with deep wine-colored spikes.
Growing it with lavender
Burgundy Blast likes the same sun and lean, well-drained soil as lavender, and its wine purple spikes and dark foliage make a rich backdrop that leads into lavender's bloom.
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
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Botanical name: Baptisia
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Flower color: Dark wine purple
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Foliage: Very dark blue-green
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Growth habit: Full, rounded, shrub-like mound
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Mature size: 36–42 in tall × 36–42 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Late-May
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Peak bloom: Early-June
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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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.