Butterfly peas are nature’s best magic trick. These vining plants are grown in Asia as a natural blue dye and soothing tea. When the flowers are steeped in water, they release a gorgeous blue color and delicious tea. When mixed with a little bit of lemon juice, it instantly turns pink. You go from a gardener to a magician at all your summer parties by making your own natural pink lemonade.
In the greater Kitsap area, these vining plants are considered an annual because they are not frost-tolerant, much like growing those beautifully scented sweet pea flowers. You must start your seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before our last frost, which means starting in February. They can be tricky to germinate. You will want to scarify the seeds first, then soak them for 24 hours before sowing them into the soil.
What does it mean to scarify a seed, you might be asking.
Some seeds have a naturally hard outer shell and need a little help to break down. Most of the time, this process happens naturally in nature from animals eating, digesting, and pooping out. It can also occur naturally, just being left on the ground where they can get stepped on, nibbled, scratched, etc., by animals. At home, we mimic this natural phenomenon by rubbing the seeds on sandpaper to scratch the surface, followed by soaking in water to help swell and break open the seed coat.
These vining plants will need a tall trellis to grow vertically up and be tied to. Anywhere in your garden that receives 6+ hours of direct hot sunshine will work. As the flowers bloom, you will want to harvest frequently to encourage more flower production, and dry inside in a dark, cool, well-ventilated area. But don’t forget to leave some flowers to get pollinated and create viable seeds for next year.
