Blue Porter Weed ( Stachytarpheta urticifolia)

This plant is supposed to come in different colors of  red, blue and white .  However blue is the only color I have seen so far.  The porter weed  is  truly a  weed,  it grows wild, but not invasive. It is a native plant of Asia.  This plant is sold in nurseries as well.  It is a rather unusual plant and attractive in full bloom.

I noticed it sprouting  up one day in a corner of  my garden.  I supposed some birds or butterflies must have dropped the seeds.  I can recognized this plant by its distinct serrated dark green leaves. There is another plant that looks very much like  the porter weed, except that its  leaves are duller ,softer in texture  and not serrated. The blue flowers looked almost the same but the stem not as hardly as this porter weed.  Similar to the porter weed, this other plant  also grows wild. I often see this  other plant when we go on walks or hiking.  I do not know what is the name of that other plant and whether it is related to the blue porter weed.

I  dug out the porter weed from my garden and planted it on the other side of the fence.   See how well it grows ?  I have to trim it now and then, but it will grow back just as fast. It is a robust plant , it can stand drought conditions and poor soil conditions.  The stem becomes harder as the plant matures.  Why am I keeping this weed?  Well, this weed is said to have medicinal properties, check this out :-http://www.rain-tree.com/gervao.htm, so it is a shame to kill the plant. It does not take much space, moreover it is quite attractive to butterflies as well, and rather pleasing to the eye as well......!