Do you want more plants? If your goal isn't propagating from seed, you don't need to do anything. I typically cut off the pods, I don't like the look of them on the plant during the season, but no harm in leaving them.

will the seeds winter over on the ground where you are???

back before the WWW .. my inclination would have been to finely hand rake a spot .. and put down some seed.. and then find a stick in the lawn and shove it in the middle... so.. if and when i saw seedlings in spring.. at a min.. i would know i planted them.. sooner or later i would figure out what they were.. lol ..

but then.. i would fear vermin eating the seed over winter .. so i would would put half in a labeled envelop.. and store them for spring planting .. usually finding the envelop a few years later.. lol ...

ken

Ken, you always make me laugh….. I am in Milwaukee, 5b. Sooooo, I imagine they would overwinter, like coneflower seeds???? Not sure. Usually the plant blooms beautifully and it didn’t this year.The pods usually show much sooner and I have kept them trimmed off in the past not wanting the plant to get too big. But since it didn’t bloom this year, maybe leaving the pods or planting next spring would help with bloom????

debra

You would not have pods without at least a partial bloom. I just leave my pods be.

tj

Truly, tj tj, never saw a flower, but I will leave them be.

debra

I don't do anything with them and I am greeted by plenty of volunteers the next year, but that's 6b.

I've read that they are slow to grow but once it's tap root is developed, and has grown good foliage- then the plant will bloom each year- but all that might take 3-5 years to then develope flowers...but there are many variables in gardens- light water soil density etc.

In my case it has been the ground for at least 5 years and bloomed well before.

I was reading about them just now...(because I just planted one this year after giving one away and wishing I hadn't) and it says "The plant does not bloom well in acidic soils, so adding lime in those conditions can improve flowering." Maybe that's what's going on?

Not really sure. This plant is pretty old……certainly not going to dig it up if it is that difficult to do!
debra

The roots are deep and tough. OTOH after I wrestled it out of ground it didn't look so hot but I transplanted it and it grew just fine.

Sue, I have soil that grows wild blueberries, so quite acidic, and my Baptisia, including both species and hybrids, bloom without problems. I don’t raise the pH in my flower beds, just for my veggies.

Marie, in your yard I think it would be too little sun. Have other plants grown enough to increase the shade where your Baptisia is?

NHBabs z4b-5a NH so glad to learn that about your acidic soil working out just fine with Baptisia- because I'm getting ready to transplant one I just planted this spring that became shaded by a butterfly bush and I was concerned about the soil in the area I'm thinking about planting it if I get enough sun there.

I trust an actual gardeners experience such as yourself-thanks for the info!

Oh and also I keep reading that because the tap root wants to grow 10 feet down, it will not bloom in a pot- but this little plant I recently bought was blooming in a pot when I got it in the mail.

So I'm wondering if they can be container grown...I mean a small tree needs a long tap, but grows and survies in a big pot, and is reduced in size- right?

Any input on this would be interesting to anyone growing Baptisia I'm sure.

(Only reason I'm considering a pot is becuase I've run out of sun and the pot could be in a cemented area with sun.)