Baptisia 'Purple Smoke'
Laughs at drought, heat, humidity, cold, and poor soil!
Such exotic color from a fuss-free native plant! You will love the gentle, cooling gray-and-purple bloomspikes in spring, and appreciate the rich blue-green foliage for months afterwards. Baptisia is famously adaptable, and 'Purple Smoke' goes well beyond the species, both in beauty and garden performance.
From mid- to late spring, this 4-foot-tall, 3 1/2-foot-wide plant is topped by dozens of long, greenish-black bloomspikes, each bearing masses of dusty purple blooms. Pointing straight up and swaying in the breeze, they have an airy, ethereal look, like columns of violet smoke, offset by striking near-black stalks.
'Purple Smoke' is superbly tolerant of every adversity from drought to heat, humidity, cold, and poor soil. The one condition it doesn't like is transplanting, so we have grown our plants in containers to minimize transplant shock.
To show off the blooms, situate 'Purple Smoke' in front of a wall of tall conifers. It also makes a fine backdrop to spring-flowering bulbs and to fragrant, low-growing perennials. Zones 3-9.
| Genus | Baptisia |
| Variety | 'Purple Smoke' |
| Bloom Season | Mid Spring - Late Spring |
| Habit | Mound-shaped |
| Zone | 3 - 9 |
| Plant Height | 3 ft - 4 ft |
| Plant Width | 3 ft 6 in |
| Bloom Size | 5 in |
| Item Form | 1-Quart |
| Additional Characteristics | Bird Lovers, Bloom First Year, Easy Care Plants, Flower, Free Bloomer |
| Bloom Color | Purple |
| Light Requirements | Full Sun |
| Moisture Requirements | Dry |
| Resistance | Cold Hardy, Disease Resistant, Drought Tolerant, Heat Tolerant, Pest Resistant |
| Soil Tolerance | Normal, loamy, Poor |
| Uses | Border, Cut Flowers, Hedge, Ornamental, Outdoor |
| Restrictions | CAN, HI, PR |
