This is how mine are growing right now...but they've actually gotten even taller...I love the blooms....and they're so showy in the mornings... :) It seems to enjoy being under the vitex...
Melanie
Mexican Petunias
Nice pic TxT. I used to have those and they pop everywhere. Do you have a problem with them seeding everywhere? They are a pretty purple.
TxTurqoize - You did a great job with that grouping!
They are lovely in a group aren't they?
Thanks guys.. :) Yes, I like the way they look in a group...and try to remember a plant's height requirement when I grow things in the flowerbeds. I don't seem to have any "babies" coming up anywhere from this particular plant. Tho I know my mother's dwarf varieties were coming up everywhere!
Melanie
I really like some no-fuss plants like the ruellas. They are easy to pluck out if you have too many. I've never had any that minded being transplanted. There is a saying "if they die they die" and since these are practically free it wouldn't bother me at all if some did die but I try to keep this from happening. Something I learned a looooong time ago is that if you plant thickly - same plant or diffferent plants - you will have fewer weeds, conserve moisture and no mulch is required = low maintenance. I like to "play" w/ my flwrs but I don't want to "Have to".
Ann
Hi Mexican Petunia enthusiasts.
Reading this thread reminded me of memories past with the wild Mexican Petunia. I remember my brother and I crouching and spitting on the brown seed pods as a children, to get the seed pods to explode. Yes, we had to invent things to do with our time in those days. ;>}
I recently saw the same wild, native version of this plant while on a nature walk at Goliad State Park in Goliad, Tx. I wondered though, why the commercially sold [and pictured in the various photos on this thread], more narrow-leafed Mexican Petunia looked so different than the ones I remembered from childhood, which had more oval-shaped leaves. So I did a search. To learn more, about the two different "Mexican Petunias" and the latin name for each one, go to:
http://www.afnn.org/upload/pdf_forms/article6ruellia.pdf
Did the ones you remember from childhood have furry leaves? There are so many commericial varieties now the originals are being lost. I think I have one of the original and have also ID'd a wild one here.
The more oval-shaped leaved Mexican Petunias, i.e.Ruellia caroliniensis, do have somewhat hairy leaves. The narrower-leaved Ruellea tweediana, aka R. brittoniana have no "hair".
I must have these. Ruellia caroliniensis a friend gave me a rooted sprig (that has gone berserk) of that. I had no idea was the same as the tall kind that I already had that I acquired many years ago as one now is MANY...MANY. :) I happened to see the tall kind in a nursery and asked what they were and they said Mexican Petunia. Well they didn't look like the ground cover kind my friend had given me but the blooms sure did look similar. Both are purple. Then a couple weeks ago I got the dwarf in pink. Didn't know there was such a thing as the dwarf. It's more grassy looking. All bloom like crazy and sprout up everywhere. I don't feel bad about pulling them up and discarding the ones that aren't where they are supposed to be since there are so many. I laughed when I saw the price tag on the small container of the tall ones at the nursery that I had many many many of. 20 bucks??? Good Lord! I have a fortune in my front yard! LOL
And they'll even root on their own if you pull them up and leave them laying there exposed for weeks waiting for the trash pick up pile to be gotten. LOL
Made a trip to Plant Files on the Ruellia caroliniensis. This is still not the one I'm thinking of. I don't have a photo of the bloom at the moment but it is Ruellia. I got mine as a hanging basket. Oval, furry leaves, woody almost brittle stems. The plant draped nicely in a basket and while hanging, the seeds sprayed far and wide when they popped. I have it in flower beds, on the border of the brick patio and who knows where else. It has been many years and the basket is gone but the plants are here to stay. I now have the more commercial varieties as well and do like them.
As maidenintheshade says, if you don't want them there, pull them up. Pot 'em up and bless another gardener with it. After all, you can be generous at $20 a pot... : )) pod
These are the plants from the original mexican petunia. No blooms on them this morning but maybe you can see the veining in the leaf. The leaf is fuzzy and the bloom is Ruellia.
Podster, I beleive the petunia you have is Ruellia humilis a lovely Texas native, check this out.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/87567/
We have those at the Wildscape here.
Josephine.
Thanks for the link Ms. Frostweed. I don't think that is quite the same. The foliage on this one is more sprawling and when in a basket, hangs down making a pretty hanging plant. This is a different picture of the leaves but showing how it sprawls in a bed.
Just not sure which one... pod
I meant to add that the woody stems root where they touch the soil and if broken off ( they are brittle ) they will easily root when tuck in dirt.
It sure looks like the Ruellia humilis we have, it does trail, but then I haven't seen your plant.
It was a good try.
Josephine.
Yes, I will have to look at more photos of the humilis. The foliage on the ones in PF looked too upright. Will check it out further... Thanks much. pod