Bountiful Gardens

Bacopa: The Perfect Cascading "Spiller" Flower

Bacopa is a stunning and versatile annual renowned for its breathtaking floral display and graceful, trailing habit. While its botanical name is often Sutera cordata, it is known universally in the gardening world as Bacopa. This plant produces long, flexible stems densely covered in small, heart-shaped leaves and a profusion of tiny, five-petaled, star-shaped flowers. The classic white variety creates a frothy, snow-like cascade, but modern cultivars also offer beautiful shades of lavender, blue, and soft pink. Its primary role in the garden is as the quintessential "spiller," tumbling elegantly over the sides of containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets.  Bacopa is very easy to grow and maintain, with one critical requirement: it must never be allowed to dry out completely.

Why Bacopa is a Container Garden Staple

Bacopa's immense popularity comes from its ability to effortlessly soften and beautify container arrangements.

Prolific Blooming: It is incredibly floriferous, creating a solid mat of color that lasts from spring right through to the first frost.

The Perfect "Spiller": Its trailing nature is unmatched for cascading over the edges of pots, creating a lush, finished look.

Self-Cleaning: Modern varieties are self-cleaning, meaning they drop their spent flowers on their own, requiring no deadheading to stay beautiful.

Versatile Sun Requirements: It performs well in both full sun and partial shade, giving gardeners more options for placement.

Elegant Companion: Its fine texture and delicate appearance make it a perfect partner for almost any other plant, from bold Zinnias to vibrant Petunias.

When to Plant:

The ideal time to plant Bacopa is in the spring, from May through Summer, after the danger of frost has passed. This gives it time to establish while the weather is mild.  All summer is a good time to plant Bacopa, especially for refreshing tired-looking containers or hanging baskets. However, because of the high heat of late summer, it is crucial to be diligent with watering.  Bacopa will perform best in a location that receives morning sun and some protection from the intense, direct sun of late afternoon. A consistently moist environment is key to helping it thrive until the fall.

Growing Instructions:

Sunlight: Plant in full sun to partial shade. In the heat of our summer, a spot with afternoon shade is often ideal.

Watering: This is the most important rule. Keep the soil consistently moist, like a wrung-out sponge. Do not let it dry out. Hanging baskets and small containers may need watering daily, or even twice a day, during heatwaves.

Soil: Use a high-quality, all-purpose potting mix for containers, or plant in rich, well-draining garden soil.

Fertilizing and Care: To fuel its continuous blooming, feed Bacopa in containers with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer every 2-3 weeks. If the stems ever become too long or sparse, you can trim them back to encourage fuller, bushier growth.

A Tale of Two Bacopas: A History of Naming

The beautiful, trailing plant we buy in garden centers is native to the summer rainfall regions of southern Africa, and its true botanical name is Sutera cordata. So why is it called Bacopa?

The name was likely adopted for marketing purposes because it was simpler and more memorable. Interestingly, there is a true genus Bacopa, but it's a completely different type of plant. The most famous "true" Bacopa is Bacopa monnieri, also known as Water Hyssop or Brahmi. This is a succulent-like aquatic or semi-aquatic plant native to the wetlands of southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. For centuries, Bacopa monnieri has been a highly important herb in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, believed to enhance memory and cognitive function.

So, while our beautiful garden "spiller" borrows the name, it's a distinct plant from a different part of the world, bred for its ornamental beauty rather than its medicinal properties.