This deciduous shrub is native to North America from eastern Canada throughout much of the US and into northern Mexico, where it grows along stream and pond edges, moist open woodlands, roadsides and canyons. It is a member of the legume family, Fabaceae, that also includes beans, lupine, and black locust. The plant grows up to 15′ tall, and has pinnately compound leaves clustered on the upper part of the plant. The leaves are up to 12″ long and composed of 13-33 spiny-tipped elliptic to oval leaflets up to 2″ long that are notched at the tip. The leaflets have velvety undersides, and are gray-green turning yellow in the fall. From spring to early summer, dense narrow spikes of fragrant flowers appear for 2-3 weeks. The spikes are up to 8″ long and carry flowers the size of a rice grain. Each flower has 1 deep purple or blue petal folded into a tube and 10 protruding stamens with orange yellow anthers. Nectar rich, the flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The 1/2″ long seed pods that follow contain 1-2 seeds that are attractive to birds. The plant is a larval host for several butterflies and the foliage is browsed by small mammals. Plants sucker, may form colonies, and can be invasive but are are a good choice for screens, wind breaks, and erosion control as well as for wildlife, native plant, rain, water, pollinator, butterfly, and fragrance gardens. Photo Credit Wikipedia
Type: Deciduous shrub
Outstanding Feature: Flowers
Form: Rounded to fountain
Growth Rate: Rapid
Bloom: Spikes of deep purple or blue 1-petaled flowers from late spring to early summer
Size: 4-15′ H x 6-15′ W
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Soil: Average, medium to wet, well-drained; tolerates occasional flooding and dry soil
Hardiness: Zones 4-9
Care: Low maintenance
Pests and Diseases: Generally healthy but susceptible to damage by leaf spot, powdery mildew, twig canker and rust.
Propagation: Root and stem cuttings, seed
Outstanding Selections:
‘Albiflora’ (white flowers)
‘Coerulea’; (pale blue flowers)
‘Crispa’ (curled leaflets)
Lewisii’: (narrow leaflets, large flowrs)
‘Pendula’ (arching branches forming dome)
Photo Credit Wikipedia
Karen Meyers