June 03, 2025| Education, Environment
By: Laurie and Marty Kane
Our native gardens at the lake Hopatcong Foundation have gotten off to a great start this spring. Our Virginia Bluebells were responsible for an early dose of blue and with these fading into the background, a much larger blaze of blue is beginning to unfurl.
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Blue baptisia (Baptisia australis), also known as wild indigo, is found in abundance in our native gardens and is bursting with buds that have just started to open this week. This tall, bushy perennial produces vibrant blue flowers on blue-green foliage and blooms from late spring to early summer. This long-lived and vigorous plant is drought tolerant, does well in poor soil, and requires little maintenance.
In addition to using Wild Indigo for a variety of medicinal purposes (including as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory), Native Americans made a blue dye from its flowers, a practice later copied by European settlers. The flowers are followed by inflated seed pods which turn black when ripe and are used in dried floral arrangements. Wild Indigo will attract bees and butterflies to your garden but no deer. It is very deer resistant.
We invite you to visit our native plant gardens at 125 Landing Road, Landing, NJ, to see these buzzworthy blooms and over 50 other varieties of native plants firsthand. We hope you will be inspired to incorporate native plants into your yard or garden, supporting local wildlife and contributing to a healthier environment!
Native plants are naturally adapted to our region, requiring less water, fertilizer, and maintenance once established. They provide essential habitat and food for pollinators like Monarch butterflies, native bees, and birds—species critical to healthy ecosystems and food production. With deep root systems, native plants also help reduce flooding, prevent erosion, and filter pollutants from stormwater, protecting local waterways like Lake Hopatcong. By planting natives, you support wildlife, improve water quality, and create a healthier, more sustainable environment for your community—and they’re beautiful, too.
