CorseMachin | Blue Porterweed Groundcover - Using Blue Porterweed For Ground Coverage In Gardens

Blue Porterweed Groundcover – Using Blue Porterweed For Ground Coverage In Gardens. Blue porterweed is a low growing south Florida native that produces small blue flowers nearly year round and is an excellent choice for attracting pollinators. It's also great as a groundcover.

Is Porterweed invasive?
What is Porterweed good for?
Is Blue Porterweed edible?
Is Blue Porterweed perennial?
Can you root Porterweed in water?
Can Porterweed propagate?
How do you take care of Blue Porterweed?
How do you prune a blue Porterweed?
Is Porterweed same as vervain?
How big is Porterweed?
How do you take care of red Porterweed?
How do you propagate Stachytarpheta Jamaicensis?

Is Porterweed invasive?

They are all considered somewhat invasive due to their habit of rapid self seeding. Little babies can turn up 50 feet away from the mother plant. You can pull them out easily and transplant them to increase your own bed, or pot them up and gift them away.

What is Porterweed good for?

USES. We don't recommend it, but blue porterweed is reported to have a wide range of medicinal uses, from treating fungal infections to high blood pressure, colds, constipation, diarrhea, boils, burns, earache, headache, allergies, worms, and “nervous pains.”

Is Blue Porterweed edible?

The small blue to purple flowers are edible, make a beautiful addition to your salads and they taste like mushrooms! The name “porterweed” comes from the dark, foamy infusion of the leaves that can then be made into a beer (porter). Medicinally, porterweed is most often prepared as an infusion or decoction.

Is Blue Porterweed perennial?

Stachytarpheta urticifolia

This pest-free perennial blooms best during warm months. It is strange how these small blue flowers attract butterflies more than large-blooming, showy neighbors. Blue porter weed gradually reseeds nearby for a fresh batch of new plants.

Can you root Porterweed in water?

When taking stem cuttings, it's important to find soft new growth on your specimen plant. Cut off no more than 3 internodes (segments or space between leaf growth). It is best to soak your cuttings in water for up to 24 hours, allowing water to move through the cutting.

Can Porterweed propagate?

Butterfly Gardening and Habitat Program

While considered as a short lived perennial, blue porterweed is will self seed or can be propagated by stem cuttings. Although the flowers on blue porterweed are small and each flower only opens for one day, it attracts a large number of butterflies.

How do you take care of Blue Porterweed?

Blue porterweed plants grow best in full sun to partial shade. When they are first planted, they need moist soil but, once established, they can handle drought quite well. They can tolerate salty conditions too. If you're planting them as groundcover, space the plants out by 2.5 to 3 feet (1 m.).

How do you prune a blue Porterweed?

You may want to trim the shrub occasionally to keep it shaped. Cut it back hard in spring (late March or early April) to encourage new growth to keep it full and bushy. Fertilize in spring, summer, and fall with a good granular fertilizer.

Is Porterweed same as vervain?

The common name “cayenne” vervain refers to the long, thin flower stalk, which is reminiscent of a cayenne pepper. Other common names include porterweed, snakeweed, nettleleaf velvetberry, and rat's tail.

How big is Porterweed?

jamaicensis and the exotic S. urticifolia called S. x intercedens which looks like the native but has an upright growth habit reaching 2-3 feet tall. And while this plant can become weedy in warmer areas of the state, it makes a nice addition to a sunny North Florida butterfly garden.

How do you take care of red Porterweed?

Porterweed is known to reseed particularly in mild winter climates.

Grows To: 12-24"H x 12-24"W.
USDA Cold Hardiness Zones: 10,11. ...
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Part sun, Part shade.
Soil & Moisture: Average moist, well-drained soil.
Flowering Period: Spring-frost or year round in warm, frost free conditions.

How do you propagate Stachytarpheta Jamaicensis?

More popular garden varieties are the ones with blue, purple, or coral blooms. Full sun and drought conditions have little effect on the plant. Propagation of this plant is easy, by putting any stem node in water or perlite for two weeks.