Blue false indigo is a tough, underused perennial

Baptisia australis, commonly called blue false indigo, is an underused perennial in Midwestern gardens. It is low maintenance, drought tolerant, deer resistant, adaptable and easy to grow. Best of all, it is pretty, offering showy spring bloom, attractive foliage and seed heads, and stiff stems that provide winter interest until wet, heavy snow knocks them down.

Blue false indigo grows 3 to 4 feet tall in an upright, vase shape. In spring, stems that look like stalks of asparagus quickly grow to full size and blue-green clover-like foliage unfurls. The leaves remain attractive all season, even in the hottest summers. In late May, plants boast spikes of indigo blue flowers resembling lupines. Later in summer, spent flowers develop into large dark seedpods. The seeds inside rattle when persuaded by summer breezes.

Blue false indigo grows in full sun to part shade, but best flowering occurs in full sun. Sited in too much shade or rich soils and their normally stiff stems may flop. Lax plants can be staked to keep them upright or cut back by one third after flowering.

Plant baptisias in average garden soil. Don't fertilize them because they actually prefer soil low in nutrients. A member of the legume family, they convert nitrogen from the air into food for plants.

Baptisias form deep taproots and are very difficult, if not impossible, to move once they are established in the garden. They never need dividing and their deep root systems enable them to thrive despite periods of drought.

They are rarely bothered by insects or diseases, and deer, rabbits and other garden troublemakers pay little attention to them.

Some report too many unwanted seedlings around the bases of plants. However, in my heavily mulched garden, I rarely find self-seeded plants. If self-sowing is a problem, remove stems with seed pods before they have a chance to ripen. They are beautiful in floral arrangements. Or simply hoe out seedlings when they are still young.

The shrublike stature of false blue indigo makes it an attractive candidate for the mixed shrub border. It is also charming with wildflowers and grasses in meadows or cottage gardens where it contributes structure to exuberant, free-flowering designs. In perennial borders, combine false blue indigo with blanket flower, ornamental grasses, peonies, perennial geraniums, and tickseed. The fuzzy gray foliage of lamb's ear is lovely at its knees.

If you need more convincing about its merits, blue false indigo garnered the attention of horticulturists when it won the Perennial Plant Association's Plant of the Year Award in 2010.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and speaker. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.