Ornamental · Scrophulariaceae
Bacopa
Sutera cordata
Hold the soil evenly damp in sun or light shade, and bacopa drapes its small white flowers from summer to frost.
Partial sun
Every 1–3 days
USDA 9–11
3–6 in · 8–15 cm
Overview
Bacopa is a low grower whose thin stems trail out and spill over a basket rim in a curtain of small leaves and flowers. The leaves are little, green, and edged with fine teeth, set close along stems that creep rather than climb. A member of the figwort family and native to South Africa, where it hugs damp shaded banks, it works in the garden as a filler and spiller, threading between taller plants and draping over container edges.
The flowers carry the plant. Each is tiny and five-petaled, most often pure white, opening in scattered sprays all along the trailing stems from early summer until frost. White is the usual color, but named cultivars also bloom in lilac, pale blue, and scarlet red for anyone who wants a shift away from the standard.
It asks little, save for the one thing it refuses to bend on, which is water. Keep bacopa evenly damp and give it morning sun or light shade, and it stretches out fast and flowers nonstop. Let the soil go dry, even for a short spell, and it answers by dropping its buds and falling silent until you put things right.
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 shows best in partial sun, most content with morning light and a little afternoon shade over the leaves. It will stand full sun where summers stay gentle, but in genuine heat that calls for a close eye on the soil, since hard sun pulls a container dry in a hurry.
Water
Here sits the one demand 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 flowers quit. In hot spells, and most of all in a hanging basket, that often comes down to watering every day.
Soil
Set it in moist but well-drained ground, be it loam, clay, or sand, and stir some organic matter into a container mix so it holds water. Bacopa shrugs at pH, content with anything from 6.0 to 8.0.
Humidity
Plain outdoor air suits it without complaint, so there's no figure to chase. Steady soil moisture matters far more than the air around it, and open airflow over the stems keeps powdery mildew from settling on the leaves.
Feeding
Offer a balanced, all-purpose liquid fertilizer roughly once a month across the growing season to keep fresh flowers coming. Stay light-handed, since too much feed builds leaves at the expense of blooms.
Pruning
When the stems run leggy or sprawl out of line, shear them back during the growing season. A hard trim wakes up fresh shoots and a fresh wave of flowers, so cut without hesitation once the growth looks tired.
Size & spacing
Bacopa keeps low, just 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) tall, while its stems trail wide to a spread of 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm). Leave each plant space to cascade so it can drape a basket edge or run among its neighbors.
When to plant
Bacopa craves warmth and folds at the first frost. Start the seed indoors in late winter, move the plants outside once spring has shaken off the cold, and the small flowers carry from early summer clear through fall until frost closes things down.
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 down to water, given too sparingly or too freely. Train your eye on the earliest changes in the flowers and stems and you can step in before a minor lapse costs you the whole plant. Find the symptom below, then act while there's still time to turn it around.
Sallow leaves, slimy stems, and a plant that folds in on itself
Water that pools with no way to drain rots the roots and stem bases, and a sodden bacopa drowns in a hurry. Scratch into the soil and the roots pull free brown and soft while the mix stays sopping. Sort out the drainage and pull back on watering, slip it into fresh mix if you spot it early, and throw out any plant already turned to slime.
Fix:
- Improve drainage and stop overwatering
- Remove and discard severely rotted plants
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix if caught early
The bloom shuts off and the little buds let go
Loose buds dropping from the stem tips is the plain mark of dry soil, not hunger. Dry the root zone out a single time and the plant ejects its buds and the open flowers stop forming until water returns. Go back to even watering, soak it every day through the heat, and pack in mulch or a moisture-holding mix so the soil never roasts dry again.
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 bloom dusting the leaves and stems
That pale coating is powdery mildew, a fungus that moves in where stems pack tight and the air sits unmoving. Thin the planting so air can move through, pick off the most coated leaves, and keep water off the foliage late in the day so the surfaces don't stay damp overnight.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation around the plant
- Remove affected foliage
- Avoid overhead watering late in the day
Curled fresh shoots and a tacky glaze on the leaves
Bent new tips, a fine peppering of pale dots, and a sticky surface flag sap-feeding pests such as aphids, thrips, or whiteflies. Flip a few leaves and peer at the growing tips for the small insects themselves or the honeydew they leave. Knock them loose with a sharp jet of water first, follow with insecticidal soap if they cling, and snip out any shoot crawling with them.
Fix:
- Rinse plants with a strong spray of water
- Treat with insecticidal soap if infestations persist
- Monitor regularly and remove heavily infested growth
Toxicity
A relief for homes with pets and small children: garden bacopa is not toxic. The ASPCA leaves it off the list of plants that hurt cats or dogs, and there's no recorded danger to other animals or to people. A stolen nibble is nothing to worry over.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Garden bacopa never made the ASPCA toxic list, so a cat that nips at a dangling stem has nothing to fear from those small leaves.
Dogs None
A dog can nose through the trailing growth or chew a leaf with no concern, since the plant holds no toxins known to trouble them.
Horses Safe
A horse takes no harm from it. This is a low, spilling ornamental, not the sort of growth a grazing horse would reach in open pasture.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble the soft leaves safely, though they may strip the tender foliage and leave you with fewer of the little flowers.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep run no poisoning risk from bacopa, which lives in baskets and beds far from any grazing ground in any case.
Birds Safe
The plant holds no danger for birds. Backyard hens and passing wild birds can peck among the trailing stems freely.
People Safe
Bacopa is harmless to people. It isn't a plant you grow to eat, but a child who tastes one of the small green leaves will come to no harm.
Varieties
Most bacopa on the shelf is a named cultivar rather than the plain species, and they part ways on flower size, color, and habit. These are the ones worth recognizing by name.
Snowflake
The cultivar you'll meet most often, a trailer hung with small toothed green leaves and airy clusters of white flowers.
Snowstorm
A tighter, more compact plant whose individual blooms run distinctly larger than those of the wild form.
Calypso Jumbo White
A trailing form that climbs to 4 to 6 inches tall with a 14 to 16 inch spread and oversized white flowers.
Blue Showers
Sets itself apart by opening lilac to pale blue petals instead of the familiar white.
African Sunset
Holds itself more upright than the others and unfurls small flowers in scarlet red.
How to propagate
Bacopa multiplies without much effort, whether you root cuttings off a plant you already have 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 keep a named cultivar true to its parent. Snip them from spring into early summer, hold them warm and damp, and within a few weeks they push roots and grow into plants exactly like the one they came from.
SeedModerate
Sow in spring, indoors in late winter for transplants. · Several weeks to germinate and grow on before transplanting.
Seed will raise the plain species, though it's the slower path, needing several weeks to sprout and bulk up before you can transplant. Sow indoors in late winter for spring planting, and bear in mind the named cultivars come from cuttings instead.
Myths
Garden bacopa is the same medicinal herb sold as a brain or memory supplement.
The supplement comes from Bacopa monnieri, the aquatic plant also called water hyssop, a wholly separate thing. The trailing plant spilling over your basket is Sutera cordata, a purely ornamental annual with no medicinal use.
Bacopa is drought tolerant and fine to let dry out between waterings.
Not even close. Let it run dry and the buds fall and the flowering stops cold. The plant demands steady, even moisture, which in summer heat usually means reaching for the watering can every single day.