Butterfly Pea Green Manure & Flower Seeds

Butterfly Pea Green Manure & Flower Seeds

Botanical Name: Clitoria ternatea

Butterfly Pea is a warm-season climbing legume grown for its vivid blue edible flowers, nitrogen-fixing ability, ornamental value, and soil improvement benefits. It produces twining vines, attractive flowers, and leafy growth that can be used in garden beds, trellises, food forests, orchards, pollinator plantings, and green manure blends.

In warm climates, Butterfly Pea can be grown as a perennial climber, while in cooler regions it is usually grown as a summer annual. Its flowers are commonly used fresh or dried for herbal tea, natural food colouring, and colour-changing drinks that turn from blue to purple when lemon or other acidic ingredients are added.

• Warm-season climbing legume with vivid blue edible flowers.
• Fixes nitrogen when grown with compatible rhizobia.
• Useful as a flowering vine, pollinator plant, green manure, or living trellis crop.
• Attracts bees and beneficial insects to support garden biodiversity.
• Can be chopped and returned to the soil before seed set for organic matter.
• Best suited to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate gardens.
• Grows well on trellises, fences, arches, and supports.

Plant Details

• Plant Type: Warm-season climbing legume, edible flower, and green manure plant
• Botanical Name: Clitoria ternatea
• Growth Habit: Twining climber or trailing vine
• Growth Length: Approximately 1.5–3 m with support
• Flower Colour: Blue flowers, depending on strain
• Flower Use: Edible flowers for tea, drinks, natural colour, and garnish
• Root System: Legume root system with nitrogen-fixing potential
• Frost Tolerance: Low; frost sensitive
• Drought Tolerance: Moderate to good once established
• Best Position: Full sun to light shade

Best Uses

• Edible blue flower production
• Herbal tea and natural food colouring
• Flowering vine for trellises and fences
• Warm-season green manure
• Nitrogen-fixing cover crop
• Pollinator and beneficial insect planting
• Food forests and edible landscapes
• Orchard and garden edges
• Regenerative gardens and biodiversity plantings

Sowing Information

• Best Sowing Time: Spring to summer once soil is warm and frost risk has passed
• Germination Time: 7–21 days in warm conditions
• Sowing Depth: 1–2 cm
• Position: Full sun to light shade
• Soil Type: Well-drained soil; tolerates a range of soils once established
• Watering: Keep moist during germination and early growth; more drought tolerant once established
• Seed Preparation: Soaking seeds overnight can help improve germination speed and consistency.
• Support: Provide a trellis, fence, arch, or other support for climbing growth.
• Inoculation: As a legume, Butterfly Pea may benefit from suitable rhizobia where nitrogen fixation is a priority.

Sowing Rate and Coverage

Seed Quantity Guide

Coverage is a guide only. Use higher rates for faster cover, green manure biomass, exposed sites, or stronger weed suppression.

When to Sow Butterfly Pea in Australia

How to Sow Butterfly Pea Seeds

1. Soak seeds overnight before sowing to help speed up germination.
2. Choose a warm, sunny position with well-drained soil.
3. Sow seed 1–2 cm deep directly into the garden or into seedling trays.
4. Keep soil moist but not waterlogged during germination.
5. Transplant carefully once seedlings are strong enough to handle.
6. Provide a trellis, fence, arch, or support for climbing growth.
7. Water regularly while young, then reduce watering once plants are established.

Management

• Provide support for climbing stems.
• Lightly prune to encourage bushier growth and more flowers.
• Harvest flowers regularly to encourage continued flowering.
• Cut before heavy seed set if self-seeding is not wanted.
• Use as a living trellis crop or chop and return biomass to the soil.
• Avoid frost and cold, wet soils during establishment.

Flower Harvest and Use

Butterfly Pea flowers can usually be harvested once plants are well established and flowering freely, often from around 60–90 days after sowing in warm conditions. Flowers can be used fresh or dried for herbal tea, natural colouring, drinks, desserts, and garnish. The blue colour changes to purple when lemon or other acidic ingredients are added.

Green Manure and Soil Benefits

Butterfly Pea can support soil fertility as a nitrogen-fixing legume where compatible rhizobia are present. Its leafy vines add organic matter when chopped and returned to the soil. For green manure use, cut plants before heavy seed set and incorporate the biomass into the soil, or leave it as surface mulch in no-dig systems.

Important Notes

• Butterfly Pea is frost sensitive and needs warm conditions to grow well.
• It performs best in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates.
• In cooler climates, grow it as a summer annual.
• It requires support if grown as a climbing vine.
• For best nitrogen fixation, suitable rhizobia must be present in the soil.
• Avoid waterlogged soils, especially during establishment.

Quick Growing Guide