Blue Pea Vine: a stunning addition to your edible garden
If you’re looking for color in your edible garden, consider the Blue Pea Vine. This perennial, climbing vine also known as the Butterfly Pea Vine or technically, Clitoria turnatea, climbs 10 to 15 feet tall and spreads 2 to 3 feet wide. It features gorgeous, deep blue flowers with yellow and white centers which bloom through the summer and into the fall. Its deep green deciduous leaves are elliptically shaped and its fruits are narrow, thin pods containing about 10 seeds. The leaves, flowers and tender pods are all edible by humans and also favored by birds, bees and butterflies, especially Skipper butterflies.
Dried Blue Pea flowers make a stunning blue tea served for its dramatic color and health benefits. All parts of the plant have been used medicinally as an antibacterial, antioxidant and to improve insulin levels. Blue Pea flowers are also collected by food and cosmetic manufactures for its use as a natural colorant. It has been found to hold its bright color during storage and processing making it a practical and healthy alternative to synthetic coloring additives.
Although not native to Florida, the rapid growing Blue Pea Vine thrives in Zones 10 and 11. It prefers wet conditions in well-drained soil, but will tolerate drought. To encourage blooming, it requires 6 to 8 hours of sun. Blue Pea Vine grows well in containers and as a hanging plant, however, its climbing habit requires a support system such as a trellis or nearby plant for its twining shoots. Once established, this beautiful plant needs little attention. Occasional watering during the dry season and pinching back the tips just above a set of leaf nodes will keep your Blue Pea Vine green and flourishing into a thick, full form.
Blue Pea Vine is propagated by seeds and cuttings. If planting from seed, be sure to soak the seeds overnight first. Seeds from the pod are known to germinate well. Keep the soil moist as seedlings develop. Cuttings can be rooted in water or in a moist medium of vermiculite or sandy soil.
As a legume and member of the pea family, Blue Pea Vine has the added beneficial quality of nitrogen fixing. Nitrogen fixing plants remove atmospheric deposited nitrogen from the soil with the help of rhizobium bacteria. Rhizobium bacteria are one of many beneficial organisms found in healthy, rich, organic soil. They are known as critical microbial members of the soil food web, a web of living organisms responsible for soil health.
There is a symbiotic relationship between nitrogen fixing plants and rhizobium bacteria. Carbohydrates and sugar are released by the plant from their roots feeding the rhizobium bacteria. In return, the bacteria convert atmospheric deposited nitrogen into a usable form for feeding the plant. This process has many beneficial ripple effects. Not only does it feed the plants with nitrogen, reducing the need for applied nitrogen, it also reduces the amount of nitrogen in stormwater run-off, helping to protect water quality. Additionally, healthy soil has the capacity to hold water longer, slowing the flow of stormwater run-off. Consequently, this process gives plants and the soil food web time to filter out nutrients before they flow into our waterways and feed algal blooms.
Incorporating the colorful Blue Pea Vine into the Florida Friendly garden is a win-win for the home gardener and the environment. It delights our senses with beauty, flavor and visiting pollinators while enhancing our soil and protecting our water quality, a must for our health and the health of our planet.
“A nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt (1937).
Deborah Haggett is a UF/IFAS Extension Lee County Master Gardener Volunteer and a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral. Visit us at www.gardenclubofcapecoral.com
References
Antosh, G. (2021, September 11). Clitoria Ternatea Care: Growing the Butterfly Pea Plant. Plant Care Today. https://plantcaretoday.com/clitoria-ternatea.html
Campbell, S. M., Pearson, B., & Marble, C. (2019, June 10). Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea) Flower Extract (BPFE) and Its Use as a pH-Dependent Natural Colorant. UF/IFAS. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP573
Scalera, S., Reisinger, A. J., & Lusk, M. (2019, April). The Importance of Soil Health for Residential Landscapes. UF/IFAS. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/SS/SS66400.pdf
Warner, K. (2017, May 30). Fact sheet: Blue pea vine. UF/IFAS Extension Nassau County. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/nassauco/2017/05/30/fact-sheet-blue-pea-vine/