Such exotic color from a fuss-free native plant! You will love the gentle, cooling gray-and-purple bloom spikes in spring, and appreciate the rich blue-green foliage for months afterwards. Baptisia is famously adaptable, and 'purple smoke' goes well beyond the species, both in beauty and garden performance. From mid- to late spring, this 3 ft. tall and wide plant is topped by dozens of long, greenish-black bloomspikes, each bearing masses of dusty purple blooms. Pointing straight up and swaying in the breeze, they have an airy, ethereal look, like columns of violet smoke, offset by striking near-black stalks.