Best Container Plants: Bacopa Flower

Updated: Oct. 23, 2023

Masses of white flowers cover this beautiful, small groundcover, making bacopa an increasingly popular choice for containers.

Bacopa Flower Care and Growing Tips

bacopa flower giant snowflake — Snowstorm ‘Giant Snowflake’ bacopa

When planting containers, I like to use a trailing plant. In the past, alyssum and lobelia were the typical standbys for most gardeners, but there is a new kid on the block — bacopa flower (Sutera cordata).

Masses of small, 5-petaled flowers cover bacopa in summer and fall. Plants reach 3 to 6 inches high.

Grow bacopa as a perennial in zones 9 to 11, or treat it as an annual in zone 8 gardens and below. Flowering most frequently occurs when temperatures range between 50 to 85 degrees.

Bacopa (Sutera cordata)
Zones 9 to 11 or annual
Light needs: Sun or partial shade

Container Shade Gardening Trailing Bacopa — Trailing bacopa also makes a good groundcover plant.

Bacopa is not a fussy plant. It thrives in full sun, filtered or light shade. The only requirement it has is evenly moist soil. If the soil dries out, flowering will decrease.

Easily grown from seed or cuttings, bacopa can also now be found at most nurseries alongside other flowering annuals. There are several varieties of bacopa flower plants, including a purple variety called, ‘Snowstorm Blue’. If variegated foliage is your thing, try ‘Olympic Gold’. The variety ‘Giant Snowflake’ has larger flowers.

Add annual vinca flower to gardens and containers.

Bacopa Flower Benefits

Bacopa as container plant — Pair bacopa in containers alongside geraniums and other annual flowers.

Bacopa is a great alternative for alyssum as it isn’t as messy (though it is also not as fragrant). It is self-cleaning, meaning that it doesn’t need deadheading. Simply allow the plants to cascade over the side of your favorite container. Whether you use a single bacopa or fill the entire container with this white-flowering beauty, you can’t go wrong.

White-flowering plants help to show off the brighter colors of the other flowering plants you add to your containers. In addition, the trailing habit of bacopa adds texture as it grows down the side of pots. For an interesting effect, plant hanging baskets with bacopa, which resembles baby’s breath.

The uses of bacopa aren’t limited to containers. Use it as a small groundcover, leaving enough room for it to spread up to 12 inches. In general, use it the same as you would alyssum or lobelia.

Next, check out gardeners’ top container gardening ideas.

snowstorm blue bacopa — ‘Snowstorm blue’ bacopa in a container with calibrachoa and dwarf Egyptian papyrus grass

Have you planted your containers yet? Be sure to make a place for the cascading beauty of bacopa!