Baptisia minor Melissa Blue Chrysogonum true red flowers (RHS 45A)

true red flowers (RHS 45A) from spring through summer

Slightly moist soils are best for top performance and don't allow the overwintering rosettes to be covered in debris or mulch

Aucuba japonica 'Lemon Flare' is a male selection and makes a compact 4' tall x 4' wide evergreen shrub

Sorry to break your bubble if you believe all those sites that say that native pollinators prefer native plants

This is not a fern for beginners who think you can just stick everything in the midst of a bed of petunias

Baptisia minor Melissa Blue Chrysogonum true red flowers (RHS 45A)(syn: Baptisia australis var. minor A1T 002) If you have only grown Baptisia australis, then you've missed one of the best blue flowered members of the genus Baptisia. Baptisia minor is its little known cousin that's actually superior to Baptisia australis in garden value. Take a Baptisia australis and shrink the leaves and plant by about half, attach an 18 24" flower spike atop the clump, which is loaded with blue lavender flowers from mid April