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Growing Bacopa

June 17, 2022

IT'S EASIER

Than you think!

Fill your beds, baskets, and containers with the charming, jewel-like flowers of bacopa. This vigorous trailing annual grows only 4 to 8 inches high, but in ideal conditions will cascade up to 4 feet long. Bacopa flower colors include blue, white, and lavender. You can also use bacopa as a quick, colorful groundcover: low maintenance, self-cleaning, and deer resistant.

It’s their shallow, pollen-rich centers that act like a bee magnet.

Bacopa

Sun & Water

Bacopa does best in a spot that receives morning sun and some afternoon shade. It can tolerate being in full sun throughout the day if kept well-watered, although summer heat and full sun can cause the plant to droop. This plant needs regular watering, especially during the first few weeks after planting, and isn’t tolerant of dry spells or drought. Adding a 2-3-inch layer of organic mulch around the plant’s root zone can help conserve soil moisture and also helps keep its roots cool.

Tips

Set each plant at least 12 inches apart to give the bacopa space to grow.

Feed your bacopa plants once every two weeks during the growing season with a 20-20-20 NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) fertilizer, if you’re growing them in containers. If your bacopa plants are growing in a flower bed outdoors, feed them with an all-purpose garden fertilizer once each month, according to the instructions on the label. Or apply a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote according to package instructions.

To boost flower-bearing, if you wish, remove wilted flowers regularly.

If you don’t do it, however, it will still bloom profusely.

Deadheading is mostly for young plants that don’t yet bear so many blooms.

The tender annual is sometimes bothered by aphids, which can be dispersed with a strong blast of water from the sprayer. If aphids persist on new growth, treat them with a soapy spray or insecticidal soap. Neem oil is also beneficial.

Bacopa

Design Ideas

How to use:
Bacopa is best used as “spiller” element in a container, or as a spreading groundcover in the landscape. Use as pathway edging, in mass plantings, hanging baskets, window boxes, and upright containers.

Pair with silver:
The pastel shades of bacopa flowers combine well with silver-foliaged plants. Place alongside lamb’s ears, dusty miller, Helichrysum ‘Silver Mist’ or ‘Silver Mound’ artemisia for an elegant touch.

Companion plants:
Bacopa combines well with many other annuals. When making your own customized containers, use the principle of “thriller, filler, spiller” with the bacopa acting as a spiller element. Companion plants include:

Petunia
Calibrachoa
Verbena
Begonia
Coleus
Angelonia
 Nemesia
Dusty miller
Lantana
Geranium
Purple fountain grass
Lobelia

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