Assuming it is Baptisia you are talking about, yes, it is herbaceous, so you can cut it back to the ground before new growth starts in the spring (probably February or so). I'd leave the stems throughout winter. They are pretty tough, but can take a few years to really get going. Likes full sun, average water...VERY beautiful when mature.

Baptisia australis/false indigo is a gorgeous, shrub-size perennial. I have 5 of them in various beds around the garden, mostly in either full or part sun. They're dependable, not bothered by much of anything and need zero care. I don't do anything to mine except give them a grow support ring and stand back. The blooms are lovely and such a welcome sight in spring. I've just harvested the seedpods from all mine and posted the seeds for trading on the Seed Exchange. This is an easy to grow, long-lived North American native & can be grown from seed via winter sowing. Once frost hits it in autumn, the foliage & stems die back on their own.

Just gorgeous! How old are your plants gardenweed? I just saw an intriguing photo of the cultivar 'Twilite Prairieblues', have read also that this is a slow growing plant. How slow does it grow? :0)

Baptisia is a great plant. No pests, insect or mammal, have ever bothered mine. Mine was a gallon pot purchase and was in the ground two years before blooming. It's been in about five years now and its spread (Flop some might say but it is "solid" not floppy - looks like a full shrub. I don't stake/prop it up.) is about six feet. The size surprised me and I've had to move some plants out of its way. Worth it.

Mine is in sandy soil, full sun. No extra water, gets compost top dressing in the spring as does the rest of the garden. It dies back in the winter. The stems look sort of "woody" as you've described but they aren't. The one possible downside is that it reportedly has a tap root that goes down for miles and so doesn't like to be moved. A friend of mine, however, moved one at his house and ended up with a healthy transplant and a healthy plant where he no longer wanted one. He's a laid back kind of guy so he decided he likes it both places.

I planted some starts of baptisia Australia and one plant from Bluestone and they're all green and healthy except they're long and lying on the ground flat. Should I trim them or just let them be lazy and expect them to perk up at some point ? Lol

False Indigo has been a big frustration for me. I bought one some years ago and waited and waited. Finally, it budded. I was so excited. Then the buds opened to a dirty lavendar bloom. I have now planted another with it and hope it will be the gorgeous blue and they will be beautiful together. Unfortunately, the nurseries here just mark them blue. I did buy it from a different nsy.
gramma jan

I Ws'd some last year and it bloomed this year. The disappointing thing was the flowers are white and I was expecting the blue. I probably did not specify when trading seeds. It has a long tap root and doesn't like to be moved. The blue variety is also a caterpillar host plant for the Wild Indigo Duskywing and Clouded Sulphur, which is why I was trying to grow it. Hopefully this year I'll get some seeds for the blue.

bev2009 - I've got oodles of seeds from my blue baptisia. Did you collect any seeds from your white one? I'm wanting to WS the white to add to my garden. Email me if you'd like some seeds of the blue one--you're welcome to them either in trade for white or for SASBE/BEAP.

prairiegirlz5 - my plants are 3-4 years old. I bought them as quart-size plants and they bloomed the year after I planted them.

Gardenweed, I'd love to exchange. The seeds are ready, I'll go get some and let them dry. I'll be emailing you!