Rare in Missouri's natural areas. A beautiful plant with multiple seasons of interest with blue-green foliage that has wonderful texture from early spring to late fall, bright spring blooms, and cute round seed balls in the fall. Like other Baptisia, it takes a few years to reach mature size due to spending the first few years growing a deep and substantial root system, making it a long-lived plant, and worth the wait. Hosts the Wild Indigo Duskywing.
Wildlife magnet - attracts lots of butterflies, bees, other pollinating insects, and birds. Short-lived perennial, but will reseed and move around the garden. May need to be staked in moist, high-nutrient soil.
Can be pruned a few times a year, and even hedged. Prolific reseeder. A study in KC showed that Symphyotrichum is one of the plant genera in our area that attracts the largest number of different bee species.