Wild Blue Indigo and Bumblebees
June is a blue month in our garden. And perhaps my favorite blue flower for June is the Wild Blue Indigo (Baptisia australis). This is such a great plant: it’s beautiful, tough, and low-maintenance. Give it time and it will create a substantial presence, around four feet tall and wide.
I love the color and shape of Wild Blue Indigo flowers, which is suggestive of its membership in the Pea family (Fabaceae). Like other members of this family, Wild Blue Indigo enriches the soil with nitrogen.
While Wild Blue Indigo is in bloom, it’s fun to watch the Bumblebees foraging on the flowers. It turns out Baptisia flowers are shaped to provide access to Bumblebees while denying entry to competing pollinators.
Bumblebees grip the “keel” of the flower with their mid and hind legs. The keel is formed by two fused petals that curl around the flower’s reproductive parts.
They use their grip on the keel to leverage themselves between the lower part of the flower and the upper petal, or banner. Once this is done, they can access the nectar. Other pollinators generally lack the size and strength to accomplish this maneuver.
Bumblebees start with the bottom flowers and work their way to the top. In the process, they access nectar and pollinate the blooms closer to the top of the flower spike.
For more information on Baptisia and Bumblebees, check out this post on the blog of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Which plants in your garden attract the most Bumblebees?
gardeninacity 
I’m adding some this year! I might be a little too shady, but I figured it was worth a try.Such an amazing plant–for so many reasons!
Best of luck to both of us.
Happy bees, beautiful flowers.
Such a lovely colour and the bees love it too, what more could you ask for.
Not much!
Great colour and important to have plants that bees love. Pulmonaria and Cerinthe major are the bumble bee magnets in our garden.
Love this color, Jason. I thing their flowers are similar lupine, aren’t they?
Have a nice day!
Yes, I think both Baptisia and Lupines are members of the Pea family.
I love Baptisia and your photos of the bumbles gaining access are wonderful. For us, however, rhododendrons are the biggest bumble bee feeding stations. The honey bees avoid the rhododendrons, but the bumblebees adore them.
Rhododendrons are fairly rare around here, I didn’t know they were bumblebee favorites.
Oh yeah. They practically shove each other aside to get at those lovelies. Like hungry beach-goers descending on an all-you-can eat seafood buffet. Noisy too.
Oh, how I love that wild blue indigo. Even the name is lovely.
The Baptisia is finished in my garden. I also like the upright bluish green of the foliage. It stands tall through drought or flood.
Yes, the foliage is excellent, though mine usually needs some support.
I have Blue Hill salvia that was so pretty covered in bees, but my photos were all a blur. Thanks for sharing your pics.
The bees love the Salvia here, also.
What a gorgeous blue that baptisia is. I also have it with yellow flowers.
Yes – me too! Just bought a variety called ‘Solar Flare’.
Wow – my blue indigo is already done, forming pods now. I love the color but it doesn’t last as long as I wish it would.
This year’s hot summer made the flowers more short-lived, I think.
That Baptisia is really beautiful, I grew some from seed last year, it’s still tiny, I don’t think it likes my sandy soil. xxx
I think it’s probably OK with sandy soil. It grows very slowly, though.
Fabulous photos! I have never seen this plant in nurseries here, but will keep my eyes peeled. Blue is lovely, bee-friendly is even better. 🙂
And the combination is unbeatable!
That is a beautiful color!
I agree!
One of my favorites too. It is fun to watch the bumblebees on these blooms. My plants are heavy with seed pods. I’m looking forward to them spreading!
I don’t think I’ve ever found a volunteer seedling of this plant.
I’ve had a Baptista for several years now, and it has never bloomed. I think it doesn’t have enough room, and maybe doesn’t get enough sun. I’m tempted to get another and try it somewhere else. How does the plant hold up through the summer after it’s done blooming? Does it stay green and nice, or does it start to die back pretty quickly?
As for bees, I’ve seen a lot around my Nepeta, Spirea, and even in the now spent blossoms of the rhododendron. Later the Russian Sage will be full of them!
Baptisia does stay green through the year.
Just beautiful. I love the leaves as well – they are quite distinctive and so pretty.