NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1524615
28 Nebraskaland • August-September 2024 grazed pastures. Typically reaching about 3 feet tall in prairies, it can tower to over 5 feet in gardens. The wildfl ower has smooth, waxy bluish- green stems with many ascending branches, each plant producing one to several fl ower spikes that stretch to an impressive 18 inches in length, rising well above the foliage. The white fl owers, which bloom from late May through June, are about an inch long and have a distinct purple spot at the base of the uppermost petal. In mid- summer, the inch-long, short-beaked, oval seed pods ripen from a vibrant chartreuse green to a light charcoal black. Greenhouse Seedlings Bob Henrickson, Horticulture Program coordinator for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum in Lincoln, has been growing and selling wild indigos for over 20 years. While heartily promoting the natives, he avoids cultivating the many wild indigo hybrids and crosses, such as "Screamin Yellow," which has over a 100 fl ower spikes per plant, or "Dutch Chocolate," which has dark brown fl owers. "People are smitten by the hybrids' colors, but I see more bumblebees on the fl owers of the native wild indigos," said Henrickson. Bumblebees, the primary pollinators of wild indigos, may prefer the natives over the hybrids because they provide more nectar and pollen for them to consume. The Arboretum annually grows and sells several hundred white and blue wild indigo plants. "They go fast," remarked Henrickson. He collects the seeds for growing white indigo plants from a prairie in Cass County, while the blue indigo seeds are harvested from garden plants originating from Kansas seed. The plants are too few and far between in Nebraska to support seed collection. Henrickson only occasionally grows plains wild indigo. This is because, in most years, he cannot collect enough seed from local wild populations to grow greenhouse plants due to the baptisia seed borer. This tiny black weevil with a long snout lays its eggs inside plains wild indigo pods, and the maturing grubs consume nearly all the seeds. The borer prefers this species and is far less attracted to white and blue wild indigo pods, allowing them to consistently produce seed. Before planting, Henrickson scarifi es the hard-coated indigo seeds by placing them in a coff ee can, adding hot water just below the boiling point, and letting them sit overnight. The heat breaks down the seed coat, allowing germination. He then plants the seeds in small containers fi lled with potting soil and places them in a cooler for a month. Wild indigo seeds, and those of most other native plants, must undergo a period of cold temperature to germinate. This prevents them from germinating in their fi rst summer or fall and exposing their tender seedlings to the harsh winter cold. In late February, after stratifi cation, Blue wild indigo fl owers in a prairie restoration in Hamilton County. This species has endured in this restoration for nearly 45 years.