False Indigo Bush
Amorpha fruticosa
Purple flower spikes with orange anthers that hum with bees in May and June. Fixes nitrogen and shrugs off wet feet, clay, and drought.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Fixes nitrogen, stops erosion, feeds monarchs and native bees for weeks, and thrives in the sites other shrubs won't touch.
False indigo bush is a large, loose, wildly productive native shrub for difficult sites. In May and June, dense purple flower spikes rise from the arching branches, small individual flowers with orange anthers that make the whole display look like something from a botanical illustration. The native bee activity on these spikes is relentless and audible from a few feet away. Monarchs and swallowtails work the flowers too. It's a nitrogen fixer, which means it actively improves soil fertility over time. It handles wet feet, periodic flooding, clay, drought, essentially any soil condition that discourages other shrubs. The fine-textured compound foliage is graceful and casts light shade beneath. This is the shrub for the bank along a rain garden, the low-lying wet spot, the wild back corner where nothing stays tidy anyway.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown false indigo bush propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant false indigo bush instead of Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), which is also a nitrogen fixer but aggressively invasive. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 6–12 ft · 6–12 ft wide
- Bloom time
- May–June
- Bloom color
- Purple
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Native range
- Central and eastern North America from New England to Florida, west to the Rocky Mountains
Care notes for false indigo bush.
Extremely adaptable. wet soils, clay, dry slopes, full sun to light shade. Cut back hard every two to three years in late winter to keep it dense and productive; otherwise it gets rangy. Spreads by seed and suckering in favorable conditions. Excellent for naturalized areas and erosion control banks.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside false indigo bush.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.