Bred by a bee, this chance seedling showed up in our trial garden and produced a beautiful new color-shifting Baptisia we call 'Aurora'. Each flower emerges warm yellow and slowly becomes suffused with rose-purple as it ages. This creates a natural contrast across a whole shrub’s worth of blooms, just as beautiful on the plant as they are in a vase.
A SPRING POWERHOUSE
'Aurora' blooms in late spring with other floral powerhouses like Peonies, Roses, and Bearded Iris. A dramatic addition to the perennial border, it’s the size of a shrub with long spires rising above waist level. Its colors are unique, opening yellow then saturating to a deep purple.
A NATIVE'S JOB TO DO
Baptisia works hard in the garden. As a North American native, it is bulletproof and pest-resistant once established. Highly drought tolerant, its long tap roots punch through heavy clay soils and reach down deep, pulling up minerals and shedding them in the fall leaves.
The Different Sides to 'Aurora'
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This photo explains Baptisia 'Aurora' for three reasons. First, tall spires appear generously over the top. Second, the young spires show the dominate yellow color, whereas the older spires show the purple creeping up from the bottom. Third, the shifting colors dance and flash across the top from week to week, giving this Baptisia its name: 'Aurora'.
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When 'Aurora' goes into full bloom, a cloud of bees visit the plant. Baptisias are important North American pollinators, supporting a wide range of different bees and their sizes. Bees will often land on the older lower blossoms first for a higher nectar reward, then work their way up to the more pollen-rich blossoms at the top.
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'Aurora' was a chance seedling found in the trial gardens at Creek HIll nursery. On a whim, Ross asked his dad, "Should I keep it and see what it does?" Ron, who owned the nursery at the time, said "Sure, why not?". Most of the seedlings had a muddy color, but one was especially beautiful in its sweep of yellows and purple.
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Baptisia experts marvel at the beauty of the 'Aurora' habit. Spires are long and tall, emerging from a dense, bush-like canopy. A very important detail are the stems. They emerge thick and strong enough to hold everything upright in a handsome vase-like shape.
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As a part of the legume family, Baptisia have the five-petal blossoms that resemble sweet peas. Bumblebees do especially well with these shapes, using their extra weight to push down on lower petals, propelling them head-first into the heart of the flower · This file is a PNG to preserve its transparency.
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This sprig of 'Aurora' shows off the graduated transition from yellow to purple, which appears almost air-bushed onto the petals. Over time, the darker color saturates the blossom · This image is saved as a PNG to preserve the transparent background.
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This composite image combines a sprig of 'Aurora' with its habit.
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False Indigo
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Full-Part Sun
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42-48 inches
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4 to 8
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#35931
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