Ornamental · Scrophulariaceae
Bacopa
Sutera cordata
Give it steady water in sun or light shade, and bacopa drapes a curtain of white bloom from summer to frost.
Partial sun
Every 1–3 days
USDA 9–11
3–6 in · 8–15 cm
Overview
Bacopa is the plant for an edge that wants softening. Low and trailing, it tumbles over the lip of a basket or window box in a quiet cascade of small flowers, and it carries a balcony rail or a patio container with the same easy grace. A member of the figwort family from South Africa, it slips between bolder plants as both a filler and a spiller, blurring hard rims and lending a room or terrace a relaxed, lived-in calm.
The flowers set the mood. Small five-petaled blooms, most often a clean white, run the length of the trailing stems and keep arriving from early summer until frost. White is the classic look that pairs with almost any palette, yet lilac, pale blue, and scarlet red cultivars wait for anyone who wants the planting to read a touch more dramatic.
For all its charm it makes one firm request, and that request is water. Offer bacopa even, steady moisture and a spot with morning sun or light shade, and it settles in fast and flowers without a break, a low-fuss companion to a daily watering routine. Let it dry out, even for a moment, and it answers by dropping its buds and falling silent until the rhythm returns.
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, content with morning light and a little shade through the afternoon. It will manage full sun where summers stay gentle, but in genuine heat that calls for a careful eye on the soil, since bright sun draws a container dry in a hurry.
Water
Here is the one thing bacopa will not let slide. Keep the soil uniformly moist at all times and never let it run dry, or the buds drop and the flowering stops. Through hot weather, and a hanging basket especially, that usually means watering every day.
Soil
Set it in moist but well-drained ground, be it loam, clay, or sand, and fold some organic matter into a container mix to help it hold water. Bacopa is relaxed about pH, content anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0.
Humidity
Everyday outdoor humidity suits it well, so there is no figure to chase. Steady soil moisture counts for far more than the air around it, and a little breathing room between the stems keeps powdery mildew from settling in.
Feeding
Offer a balanced, all-purpose liquid fertilizer about once a month through the growing season to keep the flowers arriving. Keep a light hand, though, because too much feed builds leaves at the expense of blooms.
Pruning
When the stems grow leggy or wander out of shape, shear them back during the growing season. A trim wakes up fresh growth and a second wave of flowers, so cut it hard without hesitation once it starts to look tired.
Size & spacing
Bacopa keeps low, only 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) tall, yet it trails wide to a spread of 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm). Allow each plant the space to spill so it can drape a basket edge or thread itself between its neighbors.
When to plant
Bacopa leans toward warmth and has no patience for frost. Start seed indoors in late winter, move the plants outside once the chill has lifted in spring, and the flowers carry on from early summer through fall until the first frost draws the season to a close.
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
Nearly every problem bacopa runs into comes back to water, either too little of it or too much. Learn to read the first hints on the flowers and stems and you can step in long before a small lapse costs you the plant. Find what matches what you are seeing below, then act while it still does some good.
Yellowing leaves, soft stems, and a plant going limp
Water that pools with nowhere to escape brings on root and stem rot, and a waterlogged bacopa fades quickly. Lift it gently and the roots show up brown and soft while the soil stays sodden. Sort out the drainage, pull back on watering, and move it into fresh mix if you reach it in time. Anything already turned to mush should go in the bin.
Fix:
- Improve drainage and stop overwatering
- Remove and discard severely rotted plants
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix if caught early
The flowers stall and the buds let go
When a basket suddenly stops blooming, the cause is almost always dry soil rather than anything you fed it. A single lapse at the root zone is enough to make bacopa shed its buds and sit quiet until the moisture returns. Bring the watering back to a steady rhythm, soak it each day once the heat sets in, and work in mulch or a moisture-holding mix so the soil stops baking dry.
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 haze across the foliage
That pale dust is powdery mildew, a fungus that moves in once plants sit too close and the air stops moving. Open the planting up so the breeze can pass through, pull off the worst of the affected leaves, and keep water off the foliage as the day winds down so nothing stays damp overnight.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation around the plant
- Remove affected foliage
- Avoid overhead watering late in the day
Curled tips and a tacky coating on the leaves
Misshapen new growth, fine speckling, and a sticky film usually mean sap-feeding pests such as aphids, thrips, or whiteflies have arrived. Flip a few leaves and study the growing tips for small insects or honeydew. Knock them loose with a firm jet of water to start, reach for insecticidal soap if they stay put, and trim away any growth that has been hit hard.
Fix:
- Rinse plants with a strong spray of water
- Treat with insecticidal soap if infestations persist
- Monitor regularly and remove heavily infested growth
Toxicity
Welcome news for homes with pets and small children: garden bacopa is not toxic. The ASPCA leaves it off the list of plants that harm cats or dogs, and there is no known risk to other animals or to people. A passing nibble is nothing to lose sleep over.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Garden bacopa never made the ASPCA toxic list, so a cat that pulls at a trailing stem on the windowsill has nothing to worry about.
Dogs None
A dog can nose through a planter or chew a leaf with no cause for concern, as the plant holds no toxins that affect them.
Horses Safe
Nothing about this plant troubles a horse. It is a low trailing ornamental for baskets and beds rather than something a grazing horse would meet in a pasture.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can graze on bacopa safely, though they may decide the soft foliage makes a fine snack and leave you with fewer blooms.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep run no risk of poisoning from this plant, which lives in baskets and borders far from any grazing ground.
Birds Safe
Bacopa is no threat to birds at all. Backyard hens and passing wild visitors can forage around it as they please.
People Safe
The plant is safe around people. It is not raised for the table, yet a child who tries a leaf will be perfectly fine.
Varieties
Most of the bacopa you will find for sale is a named cultivar rather than the plain species, and they differ in flower size, color, and the way they hang. These are the ones worth recognizing by name.
Snowflake
The cultivar you will see most often, a trailer dressed in small toothed green leaves and airy sprays of white flowers.
Snowstorm
A tidier, more compact habit paired with blooms noticeably bigger than those of the wild species.
Calypso Jumbo White
A trailing form that climbs to 4 to 6 inches tall with a 14 to 16 inch spread and generous white flowers.
Blue Showers
Breaks from the crowd by opening in lilac to pale blue instead of the familiar white.
African Sunset
Carries itself more upright than its relatives and unfurls small scarlet red flowers.
How to propagate
Bacopa multiplies with very little fuss, whether you root cuttings from a plant already at home or raise the species from seed.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Take cuttings from spring to early summer. · Roots typically form in a few weeks under warm, moist conditions.
Cuttings are how named cultivars stay true to type from one plant to the next. Take them from spring into early summer, hold them somewhere warm and moist, and within a few weeks they root into copies of the parent.
SeedModerate
Sow in spring, indoors in late winter for transplants. · Several weeks to germinate and grow on before transplanting.
Seed suits the plain species, though it is the slower path, asking several weeks to sprout and grow on before transplanting. Sow indoors in late winter for spring transplants, and bear in mind that named cultivars come from cuttings rather than seed.
Myths
Garden bacopa is the same medicinal herb sold as a brain or memory supplement.
The supplement comes from Bacopa monnieri, known as water hyssop, an aquatic plant of an entirely separate kind. The trailing bacopa spilling from your basket is Sutera cordata, an ornamental annual that serves no medicinal purpose whatsoever.
Bacopa is drought tolerant and fine to let dry out between waterings.
Not so. Allow bacopa to run dry and it will drop its buds and stop flowering. What it asks for is steady, even moisture, which through the heat of summer often means reaching for the watering can every day.