OK, this here is a picture of my Butterfly Pea vine (a.k.a Clitoria Ternatea)! It is an annular plant, but the weather in Karachi is such that it sometimes behaves like a perennial. Which is why it is still blooming right now! It also grows very fast. These Links below have more details about this plant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoria_ternatea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoria Butterfly Pea ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
That's exactly what all my guests end up saying! I've actually been growing this since the last 20 years (when I was in my early teens)! I love this partly because it is eye-catching, but mostly because it really is a very rugged climber - Requiring very little care even when the ocean (during Monsoon season) is covering everything on the coastline with salt spray. Honeybees also like this plant a lot! And it is very easy to propagate as well (as the seeds only require some moist soil to germinate).
Ah, now that's a sight for sore eyes. Lovely blue. It certainly pops out at you. I'd love to see that plant in real life, but I don't think we'd even make one bloom up here.
I'm sure you can get it to bloom (in a greenhouse if the weather does't permit). And yes, the blue really is very eye-catching - That's why it is sometimes used as blue food coloring!
S-H, I think I'll try to get some seed and see if the butterfly pea will live in Texas. We keep bees, and are always on the look-out for flowers they like. Besides, that is so gorgeous I'd grow it even if honeybees didn't like it! Thanks for sharing (and thanks for including the botanical name so I'll be sure to get the right one).
We call it Sam samping in our province. I love the sweet taste of the fruit when cooked as ensalada. Yum!
Well truth be told, I am not 100% sure if honeybees really like it or not. I think they do, as I have seen bees flocking around it a lot. But I could be mistaking Mason bees for honeybees (as I can't tell the difference between the 2).
