Amanda Price
One of the new additions to our gardens this year is the butterfly pea. My daughter chose this plant after spying it in a seed catalog.
The butterfly pea is native to the island of Ternate in Indonesia and grows as a vining perennial in zones 9-11, but may be grown as an annual in other zones. Some like to keep it as a house plant as well.
The pea pods it produces may be eaten when young, before the pods become tough.
The butterfly pea is also a nitrogen fixer, like other legumes, and improves the quality of the soil it grows in.
I think the most amazing fact is that you can steep the fresh or dried flowers in hot water, which produces a dark blue tea. You may wish to add honey, cream, or sugar to the tea as it doesn’t have a very strong flavor of its own. The flowers are rich in antioxidants and butterfly pea tea has been used to relieve headaches and inflammation.
Here’s a fun science fact: The stunning blue color of the flowers is due to the presence of anthocyanin, which acts as a base indicator. When an acid, lemon or lime juice, is added the pH is changed, and the liquid then turns a bright pink!
My daughter and I are looking forward to making some butterfly pea tea very soon!
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