Honey Roasted carries long, 10-inch spikes of dark mahogany flowers with bright yellow keels for a warm bicolor effect. As the flowers mature they lighten toward yellow, so each spike shows several tones.
The bushy plant is packed with flowers early in the season and grows three to three and a half feet tall and up to four feet wide. It is a long-lived native that becomes a permanent fixture in the garden, handling drought once established and staying off the deer menu.
What it looks like
Upright spikes about 10 inches long of pea-shaped flowers in dark mahogany brown-red with bright yellow keels, lightening to honey yellow as they age, for a warm mahogany-and-gold blend. Spikes stand above the foliage on sturdy stems. Leaves are three-parted with oval blue-green leaflets. The plant is a bushy, rounded mound 36 to 42 inches tall and 42 to 48 inches wide. At peak bloom the mound is packed with mahogany and gold spikes.
Growing it with lavender
Honey Roasted enjoys the same sun and lean, well-drained soil as lavender, and its warm mahogany and gold spikes set off lavender's cool purple as the season turns from spring to 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
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Botanical name: Baptisia
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Flower color: Dark mahogany with yellow keels
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Foliage: Blue-green
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Growth habit: Bushy, rounded mound
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Mature size: 36–42 in tall × 42 in–4 ft 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.