One of the selling points for Baptisia (False Indigo) has always been the winter interest of the black seed pods. And when you’re in a cold climate like that here in New Jersey (zone 6B) you’ll take whatever you can get. But, and this is a big but, the Baptisia seed pods, as one would expect, drop those seeds all over the garden as the fall and winter winds pick up and new plants pop up EVERYWHERE in the garden come spring.

And, those new plants, which sounds exciting and free of charge, are nowhere near the beauty of the mother plant. What I’ve discovered is that the stems and leaves are more, um, spindly (if that’s a word?) and thin and weak and I’m not a big fan.

So, I’m planning to get out ahead of it this fall by removing all the Baptisia seed pods to save myself on the labor of yanking the seedlings out in spring and let me tell you, they’re not easy to yank with a nasty taproot.

Hopefully I’m not too late.