Have you had a soil test? My soil is deficient in phosphate and adding rock phosphate has made a huge difference in whether plants flop or stand up. Since I have very sandy soil, I have to add more every few years.

Doesn't false indigo (baptisia) have a huge tap root? I've never tried it, but I seem to remember that it resents being moved. Perhaps it's never really established itself after transplanting?

Anyone else here have any experience doing this? My baptisia are sited well... I think... for now... but if there are any tricks to handling them, I'd like to know as well!

I have one huge blue false indigo in my garden and 3 in a prairie garden. The one in the garden is in its 4th year and it is huge and thick as you mentioned, as the summer goes by it gets a little floppier, but not enough to bother me. How floppy is it? like on the ground floppy? The ones in the prairie area are being held up by other plants, being that it is a prairie plant, that may be the nature of the beast. Out of curiosity, how well did it flower this spring? If it flowered well, I would think that it is healthy and transplanted well. Perhaps you could use a peony cage (in the spring) to help keep it a little more upright for you...just an idea. Helen.

Thank you for the info. I have clay soil that has been amended with compost so I believe the soil is fine. No soil test has been taken though. I know about the Indigo big tap root so when I transplanted I allowed for the fact that it might not make it. But this plant has agreed with its planting hole or it would not have grown as big & continues to put on new tip growth as we speak. The plant really looks healthy in every way except it flops. Once it began growing this spring and reached a good 18" it flopped & has been flopped ever since. Maybe what I should do is cut it back & see what that does. Thank you for your help

My false indigo clumps, most of which have been in the ground for 5+ years, and are in full sun locations also get a little floppier as the season goes on. The fact that it is loaded down with seeds in the seed pods also probably doesn't help matters. Yikes, will probably have a million more babies to pull up in the spring! LOL

Two years in the ground is not a long time for false indigo. Perhaps you need to give it more time!

Hi,
Mine has never been floppy, but it is in horrendous soil. It is in unamended clay in full sun, and it never gets extra water. If you were to try and dig where it is sited right now, you would get no where. I really believe it is a plant that loves abuse.
Since you amended the soil, it make take a few years for the soil to be depleted and it might be less floppy. That has happened with my tall balloon flower planted in another area of the garden.
Cutting some of the growth back won't hurt for now. Helen's peony cage idea sounds great for next year.
Remy

I have one Baptisia australis that is planted in good irrigated soil and it has always flopped. I cut mine back by a third after it blooms and it holds its shape much better without flopping. The other Baptisia I have are planted in drier soil and do not flop at all.

I cut my Purple Smoke Baptisia back to about 15 inches immediately after blooming this year. It has regrown to almost its original height and is perfect looking, with no flopping at all.

Mine has always had a tendancy to splay open and flop somewhat after blooming, so I have been cutting it back some each year, but I never gave it such a drastic haircut until this year.

Worked fine. Nice, bushy, upright & about the prettiest cleanest foliage of anything this time of year. Took surprisingly little time to regenerate itself, but as I said before, did not get quite as tall as it was originally.

The problem that I had in previous years was that with a minor haircut it got even taller with regrowth than it was originally, somewhat out of proportion with other plantings in the bed, & still splayed open more than I liked. My baptisia is planted in amended rich fertile clay soil in an area that is somewhat high in my yard & on the dryish side (for my wettish garden). In less rich soil it might not need such drastic cutback treatment, but it was this or dig it out.

BTW, it looked a lot like asparagus spears sticking out of the ground after I gave it the hard cutback, kind of ugly & scary looking, but I'm very happy with it now. Now it is sort of the perfect late summer/early fall plant that also managed to look good in spring & early summer - a very long season!

Thank you all for your info! No it did not bloom this spring & it flopped by all the tallest stems hanging over to the ground. The middle is stil somewhat up. I will get out & cut it back within the next couple of days. The idea of a peony cage sounds good. I have peonies in cages why not an Indigo if that is what it wants. It was encouraging to know that others have had some flop also. Maybe in a couple more years the flop will be no more. I will cage until then. Thank you again everyone! MaMoo

I use a peony ring to keep mine in place. After flowering I give it a haircut and it comes back with beautiful new foliage.

It really prefers to be quite dry, and flops somewhat less then. I just tie parts of it up gently after it flowers, since I like leaving the seed pods. Never had a volunteer, though, as far as I remember (which is not very far these days).

Mine's on the top of a small rock wall, and I let it flop partly over the wall. I like that loose, casual effect more than others I've tried with this plant.

Diggingthedirt, I have to pull up countless number of volunteer seedlings every spring. Must love the conditions here. It might like dry as far as your zone is concerned but down here in NC this season, it is rattier looking than I have ever seen it due to the heat and drought conditions we have experienced and continue to experience this summer!

I planted my Babtisia in alkaline clay soil amended with rotted cow manure compost in full sun. It bloomed the first year - prolifically. I had to water it like crazy the first two years (it's tough to establish), after that I haven't touched it beyond cutting it down late Winter. It stands up straight and proud with no flopping, not even after the strongest storm.

My suggestion is to add a heavy Nitrogen compost (like rotted manure) to it right now. Dig it in well around the root system. Let it flop through the winter and cut it back hard in the late Winter before Spring growth occurs.

Good Luck and Happy Gardening!

Shawna
www.thecasualgardener.com

To address the transplanting question: My plant came from a friend years ago. She had a huge plant and we just chopped off a piece. It probably took at least three years to establish, but yes these can be divided. They must regrow their taproot.

We also did the dividing during the worst time of the year - summer.

Kevin

Shawna, composted cow manure is not a good source of high nitrogen. Most, if not all compost, regardless of what it is made with, ends up with relatively low nitrogen content after the composting process is complete.

Kevin, interesting. I have a hard time transplanting baptisia seedlings and getting them to survive much less digging up and splitting an established plant. I had also heard that they were very hard to transplant once established due to the tap root length. Maybe it is a zonal thing.

I orginally had two quart sized plants and all the other clumps in my garden came from me just throwing seeds out in the fall and having them come up in the spring.

Three years for the tap root to regrow must me the problem with mine. I never did get it trimmed back because of lack of time. I guess I will just let it go for this year & wait until next summer & see how it does. It is still putting on nice new tip growth so I know it is healthy. Thanks again everyone for all your comments. MaMoo

Hi Mamoo_z5, I am clearly late to the dialog but curious 8 years later how your Baptisia is doing. Is it still flopping and has it bloomed the past several years? Is it in full-sun or do you experience partial shade?