Grape Escape is an elegant false indigo with long, dusky purple flower spikes, each flower accented with a showy cream keel. It is taller and more free flowering than older grape-colored types, with deeper red-purple tones.
It blooms in late spring and grows three and a half to four feet tall, making a strong backdrop in borders, a meadow accent or a specimen. It is easy to grow, very long lived once established and deer resistant.
What it looks like
Long, upright spikes 12 to 15 inches long of pea-shaped flowers in dusky red-purple, each with a contrasting cream keel, giving a two-tone look. Spikes rise on sturdy stems above the foliage. Leaves are three-parted with oval blue-green leaflets. The plant is an upright, shrub-like mound 42 to 48 inches tall and 32 to 38 inches wide. At peak bloom tall purple-and-cream spikes crown the plant.
Growing it with lavender
Grape Escape shares lavender's need for sun and well-drained, lean soil, and its tall dusky purple spikes make a fitting backdrop that blooms just before lavender opens.
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: Dusky red-purple with cream keels
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Foliage: Blue-green
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Growth habit: Upright, shrub-like mound
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Mature size: 42 in–4 ft tall × 32–38 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.