When will Baptista start growing??

I have a false indigo that is at least three years old. I planted it in the back of a garden as a screen for a chain link fence. I expected it to grow to at least 3 feet tall and wide but currently it is only about one foot tall and wide. It gets sun until about 3:00pm and there is some Russian sage in the opposite corner doing just fine, same sun, same soil. The leaves of the baptista look healthy but it grows ever so slow and has never flowered. Any suggestions? Thanks, Zinnia

My baptisia is 3 years old now and they are just beginning to flower for the first time . Mine are planted on a sand hill , since they like dry well drained soil , so that may be the only factor that is delaying the blooming in your area . If no blooms occur this year , I would expect a deluge next year .I love the nice blue legume type blooms !!! I live on a 78 acre farm located 20 miles east of Algonac , Mich.

Zinnia did you plant it from seed? I've read they take a long time until they'll flower from seeds. They're very long lived and can be left undisturbed for years & years. I bought my plant and have had it for probably 4 years now. It flowers well but I don't think it's at it's mature size ... yet. It's really an attractive plant. Nice foliage, pretty blue flowers, and the seed pods are kinda cool too. There's a shorter variety that only grows 2 feet tall - could it be possible you have the short one?

It does take a very long time from seed, and doesn't particularly like to be disturbed, so be patient. Like Chooch said, next year you just might be overwhelmed! I have them growing in heavy clay (well, that's what I have!) and they seem to do very well. One batch is going to have to move to get out of the way of the raspberries going out there, just like starting over next year.

I bought my baptisia about 3 years ago as a small plant. It is in full sun and planted next to a peony since they bloom at the same time. I guess I was lucky in that it bloomed the first year but didn't get a lot of blooms. This year it is loaded and so beautiful. I'm in zone 5b and it dies down to the ground in the winter but comes up right away in the spring. It looks like a shrub now and is about the same size as the peony....about 3 feet tall. I am not sure if it will grow taller or not. I have clay here also but my soil is amended so it's nice a loose.

I bought my baptista as a small plant also but it's no where near 3 feet as I explained in my first post. Loon, I wondered if yours is in all day sun. Mine receives sun until about 3:00p.m. My soil is also nice and loose since it is in a raised bed and we added a fresh soil mixture.

I grew Baptista from seed and never thought they would survive after the first winter in gal pots. I planted them the second year and they are in full bloom right now.
One is behind a grape arbor and doesn't see sun till noon, another is in full sun stuck in a nursery bed. Both are the same height and about the same amount of bloom.
I guess once established,they do good in most settings ,unsure about full shade, but doubtful.
Plants are now 2'tall and 3 years old.

My Baptista bloomed the first time this year.. I got the plant two or maybe three years ago from where I work it was a discarded plant..mine is white which is more rare .. I was really excited to see it bloom this year

I started baptista from seed two years ago and it's now eight inches tall and yet to bloom :( Maybe next year!!!

Zinnia, I had the exact same experience as you. I planted my baptista as a small plant, full sun, in front of a chain link fence and waited and waited and waited. I didn't dare pull it out and start over because it looked healthy-it just acted like it was sleeping.

This year (year 4!) suddenly the little bugger just took off, is about 3 feet tall and has it's very first beautiful blue bloom. I nearly fell over from the sheer joy of it!

Since yours is three years old already, if you can give it another season or two (patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to this plant) it will reward you with beautiful blooms. It's definitely worth the wait!

Good luck!

Thanks for you response, I'll be patient and hope mine does the same thing in year four, I can imagine your JOY, after 3 years of waiting, it's interesting how our plants build character, gardening does have it's lessons. Thanks for the encouragement to not lose hope in my sleepy baptista.