Skip to main content

Baptisia Starlite

Violet-lavender buds unfurl to periwonkle flowers with butterbream keels.

Vivid violet-lavender buds unfurl to periwinkle, lupinelike flowers with contrasting butter-cream keels. Starlite Prairieblues™ has oversized blossoms held on 24-inch-tall racemes that extend well beyond the foliage and arch grace- fully outward as they age. The flowers are positioned closely to each other, creating a very dramatic display in the garden or as a cut flower. The clean, blue-green foliage creates a fan- tastic backdrop for other flowering plants all summer long. In the late season the inflated seedpods turn charcoal-black and make valuable additions to dried flower arrangements. Starlite Prairieblues™ is a long-lived, easy-to-grow hybrid Baptisia that will produce an impressive floral display every spring. It is one of the earliest Baptisia selections to bloom at the Chicago Botanic Garden, usually showing color 7 to 10 days before B. australis and Baptisia Twilite Prairieblues™. Initially vase-shaped, Starlite Prairieblues™ becomes broad-rounded with age and has the appearance of a low, dense shrub. Its blue-green foliage remains clean and attractive all season.

Who Am I?

  • Common Name:
    Starlite false indigo
  • Botanical Name:
    Baptisia 'Starlite' PP19971
  • Type:
    Perennial
  • U.S. Native:
    YES

Cultural Details

TYPE

Perennial

U.S. NATIVE

YES
  • Light:
    Full sun
  • Soil:
    Moist, but well-drained, fairly adaptable to many soils
  • Moisture:
    Drought tolerant once established
  • Hardiness Zone
    4-9
  • Bloom Time:
    Summer
  • Bloom Color:
    Purple and cream
  • Fruit Time
    Fall
  • Fruit Color
    Black
  • Size:
    3' tall by 4' wide
  • Diseases & Pests:
    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?

Starlite is a vigorous grower, reaching mature size faster than most baptisia.

Landscape Use

Borders, foundations, mass plantings, matrix plantings, naturalized gardens, commercial plantings

Origin

Baptisia is a genus consisting of approximately 20 species and natural hybrids of native North American perennials. Starlite Prairieblues™ is a selection from a controlled cross of Baptisia (australis X bracteata) made by Dr. Jim Ault of t

Propagation

Softwood Cuttings
Tissue Culture

Who Am I?

  • Common Name:
    Starlite false indigo
  • Botanical Name:
    Baptisia 'Starlite' PP19971
  • Type:
    Perennial
  • U.S. Native:
    YES

Image Library

Download hi-res files by clicking the blue button next to the image.