Growing Blue Pea Or Bunga Telang In My Garden

While visiting a friend at her house, I saw this blue flower vine growing wild outside her house. I managed to find a few dried seed pods and brought them home, meaning to plant them.

This is the single layered petal Blue Pea flower.

Before I have time to sow the seeds that I have brought home, another friend gave me some seeds of the less common double layered petals flowers.

(pic below)

 I chose to sow the double layered petals flower seeds.

It is a very beautiful deep blue flower.

It started off as a thin creeper. I cut off a long stem off my Japanese Bamboo Plant to guide the creeping plant up the wall.

Some of its common names are Blue Pea, Butterfly Pea or Bunga Telang

in Malay. Its scientific name is Clitoria Ternatea.

This Blue Pea plant grows well in moist, well-drained garden soil.

It is quite a hardy plant and can be exposed to full sun or partial sun.

The Blue Pea creeper's branches grow long and can be untidy.

The flowers are used as natural dye in Nyonya kueh e.g. Pulut Inti, Nyonya Chang or Pulut Tai Tai and also the Kelantanese Nasi Kerabu, etc.

This plant can be grown as an ornamental plant for its flowers.

It needs very little care.

The flowers can be harvest and sun-dried and kept for a long time.

The flower is single flower, dark blue or deep blue with some yellow on the petals.

Some claimed that the seed pods are edible when young and tender.

The seed pod is flat, can grow up to 10 cm long.

One seed pod contains about 5 to 8 seeds.

The flowers can be used to make refreshing drink.

Place 2-3 flowers in boiling water or steep them in hot water until the water turns blue. Before drinking, squeeze a few drops of calamansi juice into the drink. The colour will change from blue to purple. Sweetener or honey and ice can be added to the drink. 

It is claimed that Blue Pea Plants have medicinal uses:

Medicinal uses:

• It can be used as anti depressant and sedative agent.
• It is also claimed for treating infertility and to control menstrual discharge.

• for treating ulcer, fever, urinating problem.
• for treating hair loss, premature graying of hair.

Linked to Good Fences.

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He,

I am He who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

(Isaiah 46:4, NIV)