Baptisia Solar Flare
The most distincly colored selection on the market.
Looking for a uniquely colored, vigorous, native perennial that will stop traffic and feed pollinators? Baptisia ‘Solar Flare’ features lush, purplish stems in spring, followed by golden yellow flowers that take on a unique orange-to-maroon hue with age. A vigorous, easy-to-grow hybrid baptisia from the Chicagoland Grows® Plant Collection, developed by Dr. Jim Ault of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Solar Flare is covered in beautiful flowers in early summer. Your customers and the bees will thank you. This striking plant makes an excellent specimen but is also effective massed at the back of a perennial border. Can be an outstanding addition to a mixed border or grouped for a naturalistic effect in prairie or meadow settings. Its durability lends it to low-maintenance landscapes. The upright stems and their lack of lowermost foliage lend this selection to close interplanting with shorter perennials, unlike some false indigos such as B. australis.
Who Am I?
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Common Name:Solar Flare false indigo
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Botanical Name:Baptisia 'Solar Flare' PP20408
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Type:Perennial
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U.S. Native:YES
Cultural Details
TYPE
U.S. NATIVE
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Full sun
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Moist, but well-drained, fairly adaptable to many soils
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Drought tolerant once established
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4-9
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Late spring
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Yellow to red
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Fall
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Gray
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4' tall by 4.5' wide
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False indigos exhibit good to excellent disease resistance. A seed weevil will predate the seed, but this does not detract from either plant health or display value. The genista broom moth caterpillar (Uresiphita reversalis) can seriously defoliate plants of Baptisia, but this tends to be more of a problem in warmer climes.
What Makes Me Special?
Landscape Use
Origin
The Prairieblues™ false indigos were developed by Jim Ault, Ph.D., at the Chicago Botanic Garden from crosses made between 1999 and 2004. The selections were developed from crossing Baptisia albescens (formerly B. alba), B. australis var. australis, B. australis var. minor, B. bracteata (formerly B. leucophaea), B. sphaerocarpa, and B. tinctoria in various c ombinations. All parent plants and selections were grown in-ground at the Chicago Botanic Garden (USDA Zone 5b) during the breeding and selection process.
