Butterfly Pea

Description

One of the prettiest — and one of the toughest — plants we grow is the butterfly pea, known as Aparajita (अपराजिता) in Hindi. When everything else (except neem , of course) is wilting in the heat of summer. it climbs beautifully up whatever it can find to reach the sun. The beautiful blue flowers are expensive to buy because they require a lot of labor to pick and dry, but growing your own is easy. For parents and grandparents, it’s the perfect plant to introduce the joy of gardening to youngsters. Along with multiple health benefits, they’re a great science lesson. Make a tea with the flowers and it will be a spectacular blue color. Add a drop or two of lime juice, and it will turn bright purple when the pH is changed.

Either way, the tea is packed with antioxidants including anthocyanines that help protect against aging. * An article in Food Science Technology reports that the flowers, also known as Medhya Rasayana in Ayurveda, are used to support brain health, as well as treating conditions as wide ranging as indigestion, constipation, arthritis, skin diseases, liver and other intestinal problems.*

And yes, that’s turmeric, it’s climbing in the background 🙂

*Neem Tree Farms does not sell products that are intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or control any disease or disorder.