Matt, Have you moved them into shade to try to reverse their decline? I've moved all my containers of "full sun" plants onto the covered patio where they are getting sun only until noon. In this heat, they just can't handle more sunlight and heat because even in light-colored containers it seems like their roots are roasting.

My best guess is that they are struggling with transplant shock combined with the higher-than-usual high temps that arrived so early in June this year.

I've had leaves blacken like that was when a tree came down and 'full shade' plants were instantly exposed to 'full sun'.

I suspect your plants might not have had a lot of hardening off to heat and sunlight before you received them. They should be able to handle our intense sunlight and heat just fine once established, but this is a hard year for anything to establish, even in pots.

For what it is worth, if I had wanted to plant these plants this year and couldn't find large-sized transplants locally in April or early May, I probably would have done just what you did....so I don't think you did anything wrong, and I don't think that there's anything you could have or should have done differently. I just think this is a brutal weather year.

Be sure you aren't overwatering them because their roots don't like too much moisture.

Do your plants still have some green on them? I hope so. I'd probably feed them either alfalfa tea (soak some alfalfa rabbit pellets in water for a few hours) or liquid seaweed. Both of these have helped me save struggling plants in the past.

Dawn

Matt, Baptistas don't like their feet wet, so be sure you have good drainage. It is true they don't like to be transplanted, but the CAN be, obviously. I have found them finicky but very forgiving. I've had them around 10 years now.

Mine turned black when I moved and divided it, and I asked Joyce at Oasis in Stillwater about it and she said they were going dormant but not dying and not to give up on them. Sure enough, they came back in the spring. Then I moved part of it again and it turned black but came back in the spring again. Then last summer they were 100% defoliated by caterpillars but came back this spring and are going strong. I love the brief flowers, but like the foliage SO much all summer, and they have not shown the slightest heat stress right smack in the middle of full sun.

So don't give up on them, but don't mess with them too much either. They will be happiest in a permanent location.

Oh and, if you haven't seen how they come up in the spring - they look like funky asparagus.

I'm a bit confused. When I heard the name Santa Rosa Garden, I naturally thought they're located in Santa Rosa CA, since I used to live there. However, when I looked them up, I see that they are actually in Gulf Breeze FL. If that's where the plants are coming from, I can pretty well guarantee that moving them to OK is going to be a huge shock.

I've finally had success with baptisia, although it wasn't until this summer that the plant I put in last year is actually looking like it's happy and will live. I lost two out of the three that I planted, and it was probably because they were in full blasting sun for the summer and then snow and ice sitting on them for a couple of weeks in the winter. They do have good drainage where they were planted, but I think it simply stayed too wet for too long.

Pat

Well, i didn't even look to tell you the truth. I just assumed it was Santa Rosa, CA as well. Oh well. I also ordered Sporobolus heterolepis, Panicum virgatum 'dallas blues', and Panicum virgatum 'heavy metal'. They're all doing fine. Gotta love native grasses...they're almost impossible to kill.

Baptisias are taprooted plants, too, so don't need as much water, especially if planted in the ground. However, I grow mine in a large pot and right now I water it every other day because it dries out quickly. Better drainage in a pot as well, so watering them a bit more does not have a detrimental effect on them.

Baptisias prefer cooler temps so when it gets hot here, they whine a bit by leaves drying up, curling, turning black, and losing some foliage. By fall, they may perk up some, but by spring, they will be back in full force and beauty. B. australis and B. australis v. minor both have gorgeous blue pea-like flowers. They are also larval hosts for the Wild Indigo Duskywing butterfly, which does insignificant damage to the foliage. What does damage them a great deal are the Genista moth caterpillars. I now try to remove them as soon as I see an indication of them. These are the only true pest I've seen on them.

I bought mine locally at Precure Nursery in gallon pots.

A good place to order natives from is Easy Wildflowers in Missouri, and the plants are so reasonably priced. Check them out if interested.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Wildflowers

I got mine at Oasis in Stillwater. She used to have one out front the size of a small car. (She's removed the big garden but is still in business although wishing to find a buyer rather than just close (to retire).)