Leaf
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0
Himalayan indigo
Indigofera heterantha Wall. ex Brandis
Family: Fabaceae
1 to 2 m tall
Sunny borders and edgings, ordinary free-draining soil, may be cut back to ground level by frost in hard winters and regrow from the stock
Flowering: June – September
Full sun
Hardy to about -15°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Even if it is frozen back to ground level in a severe winter, it regrows vigorously from the stock in spring and flowers again the following summer, like a woody perennial.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, compound, pinnate, with fine greyish-green leaflets
🌸 Flowers
Pink-purple, in upright racemes in the leaf axils, produced continuously all summer
🍎 Fruits
Small brown cylindrical pods
🪵 Bark
Light brown, slender arching twigs
🗺️ Distribution
Native to the Himalaya and western China; introduced to Europe as a summer-flowering shrub
🐝 Value for pollinators
Nectar-rich summer flowers much visited by bees and bumblebees
✂️ Horticultural uses
Planted in borders for its very long summer flowering period, from midsummer until the first frosts
🌿 Other Fabaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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