PlantFiles: Ruellia, Wild Petunia
Ruellia elegans

Beautiful red flowers that can take the hot humidity, flower pretty well in part shade. And best of all you can CUT AND STICK THEM IN THE GROUND and they will take without even wilting, uh so far .. . Love those cut and poke plants!

It's an awkward time here in Central Florida -- September and October are transitional months, where the hot weather annuals have died or are leggy and failing, but it's too hot and dry to plant anything new. I have this Ruellia in a pot, partial sun/bright light. It continues to put off new growth and bloom well, though not prolifically. Very drought and heat tolerant so far -- it's thriving in a quart pot, so dries out despite daily watering. Someone here says it has dark-green leaves -- my plant has what I would call bright-green leaves, pinnate, very sage-like. Nice plant, and if it isn't invasive as most Ruellia are, it will make a great addition to my garden.

I have had this plant 3 years and it has survived the winters here in zone 8. I had to move it at the worst possible time (mid July) because of construction work but it barely wilted. I did cut it back so it would not have so much foliage to support. It is hard to find so I really hope it establishes and survives. In the meantime, I am trying to root several just in case.

I planted 2 of these last year. Only one made it through the winter here in Dallas. Mine is planted among the day lillies in partial shade. It sprawls out toward the sun and looks great peeping out of the stalks of the lillies. I will buy more when I find them again.

I have grown this plant in the DFW area for 3 seasons in part shade. It's a great plant and doesn't spread like other ruellias. The dark green leaves are a nice compliment to other plants and the bright red flower are showy in mass. Unless there's a hard freeze, some of the leaves stay out hugging the ground. It begins to flower about mid May nonstop thru fall. Doesn't seem to care whether it's watered or not.

I have had this ruellia elegans in my garden for 3 years - one in full sun, one in partial shade. They both bloom later in the summer for me (zone 7), however, the one in the partial shade seems to bloom more for some reason. The one in the sun seems to show signs of heat damage. I have plans to move this one next spring. The blooms are lovely. I have installed a grow ring for support on the one in the partial shade, as it is right on the edge of a border, and the lower branches get in the way of the lawn mower and the whole plant tends to flop after rain. I just like to keep it up as much as possible, as it is so lush and prolific. Very drought tolerant

San Antonio, TX
After completing my perusal of a garden center specializing in Texas native plants, I was thinking "I wish I could find a shockingly bright red blooming, low growing perennial". As I turned around to leave empty handed, which is quite unusual for me, I spied the most beautiful red blooms on this unique plant. God had granted my wish! You will LOVE this one if you can find it!!!

This plant is native to Brazil. It has bright red leaning toward scarlet (the "Rio Red" variety) trumpet shaped five-petaled 1 to 2 inch flowers which resemble salvia greggi flowers in shape. They appear on 6 to 8 inch wand-like stems. The upper petals tend to flare out and back, while the lower one curls out and downward. The blooms, loved by butterflies and hummingbirds, appear from May until frost. It will take light frosts and dies back at about 28 degrees (is root hardy to Zone 8). It forms a 12 inch high by 24 inch in diameter mound of soft green, semi-fuzzy foliage. It takes awhile for the clump to spread and, of course, the larger the clump the more flowers you have. The leaves are large and the plant does not resemble common species of ruellia such as Mexican petunia. Usually called "elegant ruellia", it also is known as Thai Ruellia and Brazilian Petunia.

An outstanding tough continual bloomer, it performs great in our heat and humidity preferring full sun; although it grows in light shade with a decrease in blooms. It likes moist, well drained soils. I rate it a 10+++ on a 10 point scale.