Pass-Along-Plants

Over the years when I have moved from one house to another, I try to take some of my favorite perinniels with me to my next home.

It is rather comforting to see the same plants and sort of makes the new house feel more like home because old plant friends are there through different seasons.  

I have moved lilies, iris, day lilies, boxwoods, hostas, and such with great success.

I've also moved this grey, barn-shaped mailbox a couple of times because I like to keep my gardening gloves and tools hidden inside and handy for use.

At my last house, I had Baptisia australis, or false indigo that I had purchased in a pot because I liked the looks and color of the bloom.

When we sold that house, I dug up some of the other plants mentioned quite easily and moved them to their new location.

Digging up a root of the false indigo to move it was another story.  I dug and tugged and strained until I finally got a piece of a root.  I didn't really think it would grow, but I put it in the ground beside this mailbox post anyway.

At my last house, it grew to be about three feet tall as described in this article.

I am just now learning that it is a difficult plant to move because it doesn't like its roots disturbed.  So, I guess I should be grateful that it survived and thrived near the steps of the back porch.

I was thinking the other day that maybe I should move it because it is as tall as me and tends to flop over onto the path leading up to the steps requiring that I tie it up to the mailbox post.

Not only does it provide beautiful blue blooms early in the summer, but it also provides interest with these pea-looking pods after the blooms have faded.  They start off a beautiful green color like the leaves.

Then, they slowly turn to become a deep, dark, navy blue color that is almost black.

I learned that the blooms were used to create a blue dye at one time and that is how the plant got the common name of false indigo.

Since I was lucky and the transplanted root grew well for me after the last move, I guess I will follow the advice of the article mentioned previously and take some of the seed to plant in a different location rather than moving the plant I have and risk loosing it altogether.

Maybe I'll also start some little plants to pass along to the daughters and daughters-in-law like my Granny, my great aunt, and my mother have done for me.