Mine does bloom a lovely shade of medium blue. No purple tones at all. It took it a few years to finally bloom though.

Mine blooms blue as well. I checked my tag, but all it said was "Blue False Indigo". I had hoped to find a cultivar name so you would have something specific to look for. Sorry!

Totally Confused

It is typically produced from seed, so there is good deal of variation in bloom colour from one plant to the next.

I started Baptisia australis and B. leucantha (whiite) from seed in 2008, but they haven't bloomed yet. Maybe this year.

I have read that this is a difficult plant to grow from cuttings. How do they propagate cultivars like "Twilight Prairie Blues"? Thru division?

Commercially, the new hybrids are propagated by tissue culture, although I'm sure cuttings are also done.

Division is also possible, preferably only in early spring.

There is a vegetative cultivar of Baptisia australis called 'Big Ben'. That would at least eliminate the variation of seedlings. However, maybe the "blue" of 'Big Ben' is not what you're looking for. ;)

You might also consider one of the new hybrids called 'Midnight' (Midnight Prairieblues). It is described as similar to B. australis 'Big Ben' in that both have rich, "violet-blue" flowers.

One other point to remember when shopping around for the perfect blue Baptisia, is that typically the colour blue is very hard to photophraph and reproduce accurately. My guess is that any on-line images are not very accurate in representing the true plant.

Finally, maybe the best route is to simply to find a good local garden centre that is going to have a good crop of B. australis in bloom this spring, and pick out the one you like best.

Here's one of my pics of my Baptisia australis that I think is what it looks like in real life. It is not true blue, but it is a lovely color.
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Remy

Wow, that is absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks for your replies. I think it's true that the color blue doesn't photograph well, so what I see in a catalog may not be what the color is when it blooms. I think I'll look through the local garden stores in the spring and see if I can find a plant closer to the true blue I like. The blue-violet in the picture above IS lovely. Thanks all!

Remy, that is a lovely picture. Indigo is my favorite color!

Thanks everyone!
Remy

summerstar,

I have three baptisias and was never able to find one blooming in the nurseries. They seem to be a little older before they bloom.

Teresa

Thanks for the tip Teresa. I wonder if there is any really true blue colored flower. I use to grow bachelor buttons from seed just for the color. I've tried other blue perennials and it's always the same problem that few are truly blue.

Was just looking at poppies at Wayside Gardens. They have a blue poppy that looks blue, but it's a rare one. I didn't look at the price. Actually the closest flower to blue is the flowers of some of the hybrids of Coreopsis and a short, fuzzy flowered annual called Ageratum. Grown in bright shade they absolutely glow.

Here's my list of flowers that have true blue blooms

Virginia Bluebells
Pulmonaria(lungwort)
Brunnera
Borage
Salvia patens species and cultivars
Echium
Anchusa
Veronica 'Crater Lake Blue'
Corydalis
Lithodora
Morning Glories
Penstemons
Delphinium
Salvia azurea
Meconopsis
Forget-me-nots annual and biennnial kinds
Nigella
Arctotis grandis (blue-eyed daisy)
Chinodoxa
Iris reticulata
Brimeura amethystina(alpine hyacinth)
Allium azurea aka Allium caeruleum

Hope that helps some,
Remy

There are many colors of baptisia. My favorite is white, but there is pale yellow, shocking yellow, lavender, blue and the complicated color (yellow/maroon) of "twilight prairie blue".

They are hard to move/divide because they have a taproot.
Check photos here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Baptisia

That's a good list, Remy. Worth saving. I have several of those in my back yard. Love the Virginia Bluebells, Pulmonaria, and Brunnera. I'm looking for a good blue annual, though, for the front, as well. I have planted ageratums before and to me those were more of a periwinkle blue. I have a house with orange-y brick and find lavendar blue doesn't look right.

As was stated they are very variable because they are seed grown. My old garden I had 3 B. australis and they were all different shades. Some more purple and some more blue. Try to find one in a large container that is in bloom or you may be disappointed.