Bacopa: what is it?

Fall in love with the small blue, white, pink or purple flowers of the bacopa which will bloom in pots, hanging baskets and window boxes from May untilfall. This perennial plant grown as an annual brings color and density to your summer floral arrangements.

Appellations

The ornamental bacopa (Sutera cordata), also called bacopa des balconiesis part of perennial plant which are grown as an annual plant. Bacopa belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family (Scrophulariaceae).

Botanical description of bacopa

Its evergreen foliage is serrated and green in color. He contrast with the multitude of small yellow-hearted flowers that it develops, in colors as diverse as pink, white, purple or blue lavender. This plant takes both a creeping and drooping appearance, depending on the location, which is popular with gardeners. Here are some varieties to check out:

• Sutera cordata ‘Penny Candy Pink’, with pink flowers;
• Sutera cordata ‘Pinktopia’, with pink flowers;
• Sutera cordata ‘Snowtopia White’, with white flowers;
• Sutera cordata ‘Nova Everest’, flowering purple.
• Sutera cordata ‘Lavender Storm’, with purple flowers.

Bacopa origins

Bacopa originates from huge forests in South Africa.

Bacopa cultivation requirements

Bacopas are sown under cover from March and in May, directly outside. Planting takes place in the spring, once the last spring frosts have passed. If you anticipate buying the plant, keep the pot indoors at night and acclimatize it on sunny days. When planting, choose a sunny location with temporary shade and favor horticultural soil that is always fresh and well drained.

To promote flowering of bacopa, pinch the ends of faded stems regularly throughout the summer. Often grown in containers, it requires regular watering, every two to three days and fertilizer every two weeks, from June to September. It needs to be fertilized so that its flowering be sustained until the fall. Don’t let soil dry out completely or soil become soggy, bacopa won’t like it. Freezing and not resistant to cold below -5°C, it cannot be stored in winterexcept in regions with mild winters, placed in a greenhouse or veranda.

Use of bacopa

Take advantage of its creeping habit to flower a foreground of a massif and its hanging habit to vegetate a pot, a planter, a suspension or a window box. Accompany it with Surfinias, Calibrachoas, Helichrysum, Diascias or Lysimachias for a magnificent suspension. In a pot, place it on the periphery so that its stems descend and dress the composition. Combine it with graphic and colorful foliage such as ajuga, sedge, heuchera or morning glory. For a design effect, use high pots with contemporary colors and shapes to let the bacopas invade the space. In a bed, place bacopas as a ground cover in the foreground with perennial geraniums. Play the pink or purple color unit by creating planters monochrome by adding impatiens and begonias.