Blue Butterfly Pea Vine Live Plant – Clitoria Ternatea – 5″ Tall in 4″ Pot

Overview

Experience the captivating beauty of the blue butterfly pea vine, scientifically known as Clitoria ternatea. This extraordinary live plant is renowned for its strikingly vivid blue flowers, which are among the most intensely colored in the plant world. Often referred to as Butterfly Pea Vine, Blue Pea Vine, or Blue Clitoria Vine, it’s a vigorous grower that can be cultivated as an annual or tender perennial, depending on your climate. Each plant comes well-rooted and ready to thrive in your garden or a decorative container. Its unique blooms feature recurving and overlapping petals with a subtle white to creamy yellow throat, creating a truly mesmerizing display. Beyond its ornamental appeal, the flowers of the clitoria ternatea live plant are also celebrated for their culinary versatility, often used to create natural blue dyes for food and beverages. This plant is a fantastic choice for gardeners looking for both aesthetic charm and practical uses.

The blue butterfly pea vine is a delightful addition to any plant collection, whether you’re an experienced gardener or just starting out. Its ease of care and spectacular blooms make it a rewarding choice. It’s a small-growing yet robust vine that quickly establishes itself, producing an abundance of flowers throughout its growing season. While it can be overwintered in warmer climates, many prefer to simply save its seeds for replanting in the spring, ensuring a fresh flush of color each year. This versatile vine is perfect for climbing trellises, fences, or cascading from hanging baskets, bringing a touch of tropical elegance to your outdoor spaces. Discover the joy of growing your own shanka pushpa plant and enjoy its distinctive charm.

Key Benefits

The blue butterfly pea vine offers a myriad of benefits that extend beyond its visual appeal, making it a highly desirable plant for various purposes. Its enchanting flowers not only beautify your space but also provide several practical advantages.

• Stunning Ornamental Value: Produces an abundance of brilliant deep blue flowers that instantly add a vibrant splash of color to any garden or patio. The unique shape and intense hue make it a focal point.
• Culinary Versatility: The flowers are edible and widely used to create natural blue food coloring for teas, beverages, and dishes, offering a healthy and visually appealing alternative to artificial dyes. Discover the joy of using blue pea flower benefits in your kitchen.
• Attracts Pollinators: Its striking flowers are a magnet for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators, contributing to the biodiversity and health of your garden ecosystem.
• Easy to Grow: This vigorous vine is relatively low-maintenance once established, making it suitable for gardeners of all experience levels. It adapts well to various growing conditions with proper care.
• Vigorous Growth Habit: Despite its delicate appearance, the clitoria ternatea live plant is a strong grower, quickly covering trellises, arbors, or fences, providing lush foliage and continuous blooms.
• Potential Health Benefits: Traditionally, shanka pushpa plant has been recognized in some cultures for its potential medicinal properties, particularly in herbal teas.
• Versatile Landscaping Use: Perfect for ground cover, climbing structures, or even as a unique container plant, offering flexibility in garden design. The blue butterfly pea vine can transform any space.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your blue butterfly pea vine is straightforward, and with the right conditions, it will reward you with a profusion of its exquisite blue flowers. This plant thrives in warm climates and prefers a rich, moist, and well-draining soil. Ensure the soil remains consistently damp but never waterlogged, as this can lead to root rot. During hotter periods or in containers, more frequent watering may be necessary. Providing a good quality, fertile potting mix or amending garden soil with compost will give your plant the best start.

When it comes to sunlight, the clitoria ternatea live plant performs best with a combination of sun and partial shade. It can tolerate full sun, especially in cooler climates, but in hot, intense summer regions, midday and afternoon shade will help protect its foliage from scorching and ensure the most vibrant leaf color. Be mindful that too much shade can reduce the number of flowers produced. For optimal flowering, aim for at least 4-6 hours of direct morning sun, followed by protection during the harshest part of the day. Support for climbing, such as a trellis or stake, will encourage its natural vining habit. Fertilize every 2-4 weeks during the growing season with a balanced liquid fertilizer to promote robust growth and abundant blooms. The butterfly pea plant care is generally simple, making it a joy to grow.

As a tender perennial, the blue butterfly pea vine is typically hardy in USDA Zones 10-11, where it can survive mild winters. In colder zones, it is best grown as an annual or brought indoors before the first frost. If overwintering indoors, ensure it receives ample bright light and reduce watering. Alternatively, you can easily save seeds from spent flowers to plant the following spring. Keep an eye out for common garden pests like aphids or spider mites, and treat them promptly with organic insecticidal soap if necessary. Proper air circulation also helps prevent fungal issues. Enjoy the continuous beauty of your clitoria ternatea live plant throughout the warmer months with these simple care guidelines.

Size & Details

This offering is for a healthy, well-rooted blue butterfly pea vine live plant, typically measuring approximately 5 inches tall from the soil line. Each plant is carefully cultivated and shipped in a 4-inch nursery pot, providing a strong foundation for its continued growth in your garden or chosen container. The clitoria ternatea live plant is known for its relatively fast growth rate, quickly establishing itself and beginning to produce its iconic blue flowers. As a vine, its ultimate height and spread can vary significantly depending on growing conditions and available support. With adequate space and a trellis, it can easily reach lengths of 6-10 feet or more within a single growing season.

This variety of blue butterfly pea vine is a vigorous annual or tender perennial, meaning it will bloom profusely throughout the warm season. Flowers typically appear from late spring through fall, continuously gracing your garden with their deep blue hues. The plant will arrive ready to be transplanted into a larger pot or directly into your garden bed, where it can begin to flourish. Expect to see new growth and eventually blooms within a few weeks to a couple of months after planting, depending on the growing conditions and time of year. Its compact size upon arrival makes it easy to handle and integrate into various garden designs. This shanka pushpa plant is a perfect starter for a vibrant and productive garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: The blue butterfly pea vine is a vigorous climbing vine. With proper support and growing conditions, it can reach lengths of 6 to 10 feet or more in a single growing season, providing ample coverage.
• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: Each clitoria ternatea live plant is shipped well-rooted in a 4-inch nursery pot, and the plant itself is typically about 5 inches tall upon arrival, ready for transplanting.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: While primarily grown outdoors as an annual or tender perennial, the blue butterfly pea vine can be brought indoors during winter in colder climates, provided it receives sufficient bright light.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This plant thrives with at least 4-6 hours of direct morning sun and appreciates some afternoon shade, especially in hot climates, to prevent leaf scorch and ensure vibrant foliage color.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, the blue butterfly pea vine is considered relatively easy to care for. It’s a vigorous grower that tolerates various conditions as long as it has rich, moist, well-draining soil and adequate sunlight.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: We assure you that all shipped plants are healthy and fresh. They are carefully packed with labels indicating “Live plants” or “Perishable” to ensure the best possible transit.
• Q: Can I use the flowers for tea? A: Absolutely! The flowers of the blue butterfly pea vine are edible and are commonly used to make a vibrant blue herbal tea, known for its unique color-changing properties with pH changes. This is one of the key blue pea flower benefits.
• Q: How long until it blooms? A: With optimal growing conditions, your clitoria ternatea live plant should begin to produce its beautiful blue flowers within a few weeks to a couple of months after planting.
• Q: What’s the minimum temperature it can tolerate? A: As a tender perennial, the blue butterfly pea vine is sensitive to frost. It can tolerate temperatures down to about 40°F (4°C) but will not survive freezing temperatures.
• Q: Is the shanka pushpa plant drought-tolerant? A: While it prefers consistently moist soil, it can tolerate short periods of drought once established, though prolonged dryness may reduce flowering and overall vigor.