Native Indigo

Native Indigo is a slender evergreen shrub found in all States. When growing wild in harsh conditions it is often straggly and leaning with few main stems, but with garden care it becomes a superior plant with beautiful sprays of blue-green foliage and dark purplish stems. Good for low maintenance gardens, courtyards, container growing, cottage gardens, flower gardens, and coastal gardens. It is playground friendly and the plant is a rich source of nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies.

Its natural habit is upright, to 2 m high, with flexible stems tending to arch one way. Its leaves are openly spaced on the stems, around 10 cm long and velvety smooth to the touch. Their appearance is clean and fresh, and their beautiful blue-green colour is most apparent during colder months. The flower colour ranges through soft purple hues to pinkish in short showy spires appearing from mid-September to November.

The seeds are hard and need soaking overnight in hot water before sowing. Most soils are suitable as long as they are free from lime, and with ordinary attention to watering the plants grow quickly after planting out and can be expected to have a fairly long life if protected from extreme drought.

The dye is found in the leaves and produces a beautiful soft indigo colour that is perfect for tie-dying.