Musical Duet has distinctive bicolor flowers that blend white and violet on exceptionally long spikes, bringing elegance and drama to the garden in late spring and early summer.
Over time it forms a dense, bushy clump three to three and a half feet tall and up to four feet wide, adding height and structure to sunny borders and meadows. It is low maintenance, drought tolerant, very long lived and deer resistant.
What it looks like
Exceptionally long, upright spikes 12 to 18 inches of pea-shaped flowers combining white and violet, the upper petals violet and the lower parts white, for a crisp two-tone look. Spikes rise above the foliage on sturdy stems. Leaves are three-parted with oval blue-green leaflets. The plant is a dense, bushy mound 36 to 42 inches tall and 42 to 48 inches wide. At peak bloom long violet-and-white spires cover the mound.
Growing it with lavender
Musical Duet thrives in the same sunny, lean, well-drained ground as lavender, and its violet-and-white spikes harmonize with lavender's purple while blooming just before it.
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: Violet and white bicolor
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Foliage: Blue-green
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Growth habit: Dense, bushy 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.