Ornamental · Scrophulariaceae
Bacopa
Sutera cordata
Keep it steadily watered in sun or light shade, and bacopa pours out white bloom from summer all the way to frost.
Partial sun
Every 1–3 days
USDA 9–11
3–6 in · 8–15 cm
Overview
Bacopa is a low, trailing annual that tumbles over the lip of a basket or window box in a curtain of little flowers. It's part of the figwort family and hails from South Africa, where it spreads along damp, shaded banks. In the garden it pulls double duty as a filler and spiller, threading between taller plants and softening the edge of any pot.
The flowers are really the whole point. Small five-petaled blooms, usually white, open up along the trailing stems and just keep coming from early summer until frost. Most kinds bloom white, but want something different? You can track down lilac, pale blue, and scarlet red named cultivars too.
It doesn't ask for much, except for one thing it absolutely won't bend on, and that's water. Give bacopa even, steady moisture and a spot with morning sun or light shade, and it grows fast and flowers nonstop. Let it dry out, even for a moment, and it gets even by dropping its buds and sulking until you put things right.
Care
The short version: part sun to light shade, with steady, even moisture that never dries out, planted in rich, well-drained soil and fed a balanced liquid feed through the growing season.
Light
Bacopa is at its best in partial sun, really thriving with morning light and a touch of afternoon shade. It'll handle full sun where summers stay gentle, but in serious heat that means keeping a close eye on the soil, because strong sun dries a pot out in no time.
Water
Here's the one thing bacopa simply won't let slide. Keep the soil uniformly moist at all times and never let it run dry, or the buds drop and the blooming grinds to a halt. When it's hot out, and especially in a hanging basket, that usually means watering every day.
Soil
Plant it in moist but well-drained ground, be it loam, clay, or sand, and stir some organic matter into a container mix to help it hold water. Bacopa is relaxed about pH and takes anything from 6.0 to 8.0.
Humidity
Regular outdoor humidity suits it just fine, so there's no figure to lose sleep over. Steady soil moisture matters far more than the air does, and decent airflow around the stems keeps powdery mildew from settling in.
Feeding
Give it a balanced, all-purpose liquid fertilizer about once a month through the growing season to keep those flowers rolling. Don't overdo it, though, since too much feed grows leaves instead of blooms.
Pruning
If the stems get leggy or sprawl every which way, shear them back during the growing season. A good trim sparks fresh growth and a fresh round of flowers, so don't hesitate to cut it back hard when it starts looking tired.
Size & spacing
Bacopa stays short, only 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) tall, but it trails out wide to a spread of 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm). Give each plant some elbow room to cascade so it can drape a basket edge or weave between its neighbors.
When to plant
Bacopa loves warmth and has no patience for frost. Get seed going indoors in late winter, move the plants outside once the cold has cleared in spring, and you'll see flowers from early summer all the way through fall until that first frost calls it a season.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Start seed indoors in late winter to early spring, about 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant: Set out after danger of frost has passed in spring, once soil and air have warmed.
- Harvest: Blooms summer through fall (roughly June to October).
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Pretty much everything that goes sideways with bacopa comes back to water, either not enough or far too much. Get good at spotting the early clues on the flowers and stems and you can jump in before a small misstep costs you the whole plant. Find what matches below, then act while there's still time to help.
Yellow leaves, soft stems, and a plant that just folds
When water keeps coming and has nowhere to go, you end up with root and stem rot, and a soggy bacopa goes downhill in a hurry. Dig around the base and the roots will feel brown and soft while the soil stays sopping. Sort out the drainage, back off the watering, and repot into fresh mix if you've caught it in time. Anything that's already turned to mush is best tossed.
Fix:
- Improve drainage and stop overwatering
- Remove and discard severely rotted plants
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix if caught early
The flowers quit and the buds just fall away
Nine times out of ten this comes down to dry soil, not a hunger problem. Once the roots dry out, even a single time, bacopa drops its buds and stops blooming until the moisture is back. So get back on an even watering schedule, give it a daily drink when it's hot, and lay down some mulch or a moisture-holding mix so the soil never cooks again.
Fix:
- Resume consistent, even watering to keep the soil uniformly moist
- Water daily during hot summer weather
- Mulch or use a moisture-retentive container mix to buffer drying
A chalky white dust coating the leaves and stems
That coating is powdery mildew, a fungus that moves in when plants are packed too close and the air sits still. Loosen up the planting so air can move through, pull off the worst of the leaves, and keep the foliage dry late in the day so it isn't damp all night.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation around the plant
- Remove affected foliage
- Avoid overhead watering late in the day
Curled new tips or a sticky coating on the leaves
Twisted tips, tiny speckles, and a tacky film usually mean sap-feeding pests are at work, things like aphids, thrips, or whiteflies. Flip a couple of leaves and look over the new growth for little bugs or honeydew. Knock them off with a strong jet of water first, reach for insecticidal soap if they stick around, and snip off any growth that's badly chewed up.
Fix:
- Rinse plants with a strong spray of water
- Treat with insecticidal soap if infestations persist
- Monitor regularly and remove heavily infested growth
Toxicity
Here's the reassuring part for homes with pets and little ones: garden bacopa is not toxic. The ASPCA leaves it off its list of plants that harm cats or dogs, and there's no known risk to other animals or to people either. An accidental nibble really isn't worth worrying about.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
You won't find garden bacopa on the ASPCA toxic list, so if a nosy cat grabs a trailing stem for a chew, there's nothing in it to worry about.
Dogs None
A dog can nose around it or munch a leaf with no trouble at all, since the plant has no toxins known to bother them.
Horses Safe
Nothing about it puts a horse at risk. It's a low, trailing ornamental, not the sort of thing a grazing horse would ever come across in a pasture.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble bacopa safely enough, though they might decide the soft leaves make a fine snack and leave you short on flowers.
Livestock Safe
There's no poisoning risk for cattle, goats, or sheep, and since it lives in baskets and beds far from any grazing, they're unlikely to reach it anyway.
Birds Safe
Birds have nothing to fear from bacopa. Backyard hens and wild visitors alike can poke around it as they please.
People Safe
It's harmless to people too. Nobody grows it for eating, but a child who tastes a leaf will be perfectly fine.
Varieties
Most bacopa on offer is a named cultivar rather than the plain species, and they differ in flower size, color, and growth habit. Here are the ones worth knowing by name.
Snowflake
Easily the most popular pick, this trailer carries small toothed green leaves and airy clusters of white flowers.
Snowstorm
A tidier, more compact grower whose flowers run noticeably bigger than the ones on the wild species.
Calypso Jumbo White
A trailing type that climbs to 4 to 6 inches tall, spreads 14 to 16 inch wide, and shows off large white blooms.
Blue Showers
Skips the usual white and blooms in lilac to pale blue instead, which makes it easy to spot.
African Sunset
Holds itself more upright than the rest and opens little scarlet red flowers.
How to propagate
Making more bacopa is simple, whether you snip cuttings from a plant you already have or start the species off from seed.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Take cuttings from spring to early summer. · Roots typically form in a few weeks under warm, moist conditions.
Want a named cultivar to come out exactly like the parent? Cuttings are how it's done. Take them anytime from spring into early summer, keep them warm and damp, and within a few weeks you'll have rooted plants that match the original.
SeedModerate
Sow in spring, indoors in late winter for transplants. · Several weeks to germinate and grow on before transplanting.
Seed is fine for the plain species, but it's the slower path, since it needs several weeks to sprout and grow on before you can transplant it. Start it indoors in late winter for spring transplants, and keep in mind that named cultivars come from cuttings, not seed.
Myths
Garden bacopa is the same medicinal herb sold as a brain or memory supplement.
Not the same plant at all. The supplement comes from Bacopa monnieri, an aquatic species also known as water hyssop. What's spilling out of your basket is Sutera cordata, a purely ornamental annual with no medicinal use whatsoever.
Bacopa is drought tolerant and fine to let dry out between waterings.
Couldn't be further off. Let bacopa dry out and the buds drop while the flowers shut down. What it really wants is steady, even moisture, which in summer heat usually means reaching for the watering can every single day.