Wait until the pods turn black and start to split open a little bit.

My B. Purple Smoke has never set seed in all the years I've had it, but I always get seed from B. australis, a little less dependably from B. alba. If you're interested in trading let me know.

Well, I believe I have purple smoke. By the purple eye and green leaves, I didn't think it was b. australis. It was given to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and I didn't have a label. This is the only photo that I took this spring. I also found a link on an article by Kim Hawks.

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Here is a link that might be useful: baptisia article

If the blue in the picture is true to life, that's Baptisia australis. Does the plant have charcoal gray stems?

You are right Alicia purple smoke has blueish grey stems that are very distinctive from all the rest of the baptisias. Adele

I think it may be australis. I've sent an email to my friend to ask her.

australis starts fairly easily from seed, but takes 3-4 years to get to flowering size. worth it if you want a bunch of them! tammy

Wonbyherwit - We must be on the same thought wave. We keep crossing paths.

I bought 4 pale yellow this spring at Lowes and 2 of them also have set seed. We'll see where this goes. If they dry as they should, I also would love to trade seeds. It's my understanding from Tony Advent, that the alba (which I'd die for a large clump) are the hardest to reproduce. Anyone else know for sure??? I have the purple and a smoke blue (also from Lowes)

Baptisia alba don't set seed as often, but they're easy to grow from seed. I've raised at least 2 dozen.

Wonby,
That photo looks like it is B. australis more than 'Purple Smoke', which is a duskier purple color flower, as well as the mentioned darker stem color. Also, the very large "Purple Smoke's" I have experience with don't set seed. Same with "Carolina Moonlight".

On that note, Please Note: A local horticulturist's son went to the ER last year
in a near coma state from eating green baptisia pods. The poor little guy just thought they were snap peas, an easy mistake to make. Thankfully, he recovered, but, teach your little ones that they are Not snap peas, and take caution. If you have small children, the non seeding cultivars might then be best.