Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Outdoor Adventure Thread, Jan. 29

Hi everybody! We've almost made it through January. Are you venturing outdoors or are you by the fire with your favorite seed catalogs? (Your favorites may vary.) Got something really different in mind for this year? Or maybe something that's just a different color?

Weather

We continue to have some foggy mornings in the South-Central San Joaquin Valley, though sometimes it doesn't form until an hour or two before the sun comes up. Weeds are loving it (and the rain that caused it). Mr. Bar-the-Door rented a small tractor with a scoop and tiller to knock down some of the overgrowth in the lot next door. He also did some passes over the easements owned by the city. He had to straighten up the mailbox a little afterward. It's in a pot filled with concrete.

How many members of The Horde know how to haul a tractor and tiller home and use it to plow up a lot or field? How many own tractors? I know there are some tractor owners and enthusiasts out there.

Is it tractor weather where you are? This one is a little bigger than the one we rented. Do you like it?

Here is a Heavy Equipment Hero. Know anybody like this?

Precipitation

Are you getting winter precipitation on your yard or garden? What kind?

My niece grew up in a place where winter precipitation generally comes as rather dry snow. So this South Carolina ice is novel for her:

That South Carolina ice storm has triggered the following stream of consciousness with internet access segment:

When is a petunia not a petunia?

One of the plants that got iced was Mexican Petunia. They don't like ice. Niece may need to cut her plant back. It is a perennial with a woody base. But this plant is a survivor.

I don't know what color the flowers on her plant are, but if all goes well, by spring this plant should be producing flowers that look kind of like this in lavender, pink or white.

The flowers above are from a dwarf variety named 'Katie'. This dwarf has been named a Texas Superstar plant. There is also a pink one called 'Bonita', plus a few more dwarfs. I grew a pink one for a while. It was in a little pot on my porch, where it got shade in the morning and brutal afternoon heat. It did well. I think it would look good in the foreground of Scabiosia 'Pink Mist'. And the lavender one, Katie, would probably look good with 'Butterfly Blue'. Get some butterfly action going in the garden. The scabiosias look best with some deadheading, but they bloom for a long time, like the Mexican Petunias.

There's a nice, short planting and care summary at the Texas Superstar link above. Mexican Petunias like high phosphorus fertilizer. In that regard they are unlike many Australian plants.

How Mexican Petunia plants grow

Here are some tips on growing a tall variety named Chi-Chi Pink:

This plant will act like a die-back perennial returning from the crown in spring where winters experience freezing temperatures. For sheer flower power and durability it is hard to beat the Mexican Petunias! These reliable perennials lend themselves to use as a tall groundcover, as a replacement border plant for the old Monkey Grass and Liriope because they do actually produce flowers over an extended period, and as a low filler or spiller in containers. In mild winter climates, like zone 9 and 10, they can remain evergreen and will flower for most of the year. Here in zone 8B they freeze to the ground in most winters and we plant them atop winter growing bulbs like Spanish Bluebells that take their place during the Ruellia's dormant period and as the Bluebells are finishing up the Ruellias are on their way back to do their thing from late spring until the first hard frost.

Where it is REALLY cold in winter, you can grow it as an annual or bring containers into the garage in winter. They are drought-tolerant once established, but are known for surviving in wetter than usual garden conditions.

Invasiveness

Mexican Petunias which are capable of setting seed are illegal to plant in Florida and are restricted in some other states, too, due to their invasiveness (especially in wet areas). I guess that lets those dwarf "Texas Superstars" out in Florida, even though they aren't as aggressive as the big ones.

Little pieces of root will sprout if you try to dig them out. It's sort of like dealing with an invasion of your neighbor's running bamboo. Worse, except on seedless varieties, the plant can fling seeds up to 10 feet when the seed pods explode. All season long. And the seeds get slimy when they hit dirt, and remain viable in soil for many years.

"Purple Showers" is one sterile tall cultivar that can be grown in Florida with root restriction, and others have also been developed in Florida:

'Snow White' and 'Purple Showers' appear to be tetraploids (four sets of chromosomes) . . . Tetraploid cultivars can play an important role for crossing with diploids to produce triploid cultivars (three sets of chromosomes) with reduced fertility. The University of Florida Ornamental Breeding Program in Gainesville has released to date seven new cultivars with highly reduced (or nondetectable) fertility, named Mayan Purple(TM), Mayan White(TM), Mayan Pink(TM), and Mayan Compact Purple(TM), Aztec Pink/White(TM), Aztec Pink(TM), and Aztec Purple(TM) . . . These cultivars were subjected to the Infraspecific Taxon Protocol by the UF/IFAS Invasive Plant Working Group and are now patented and in commercial production.

Sterile Mexican Petunias can still spread by aggressive above-and-below ground rhizomes, so make sure you want them before planting them in open ground, especially in wet climates.

The seeds of non-sterile plants can remain alive in the soil for years. There are some seed strains sold (including dwarfs in lavender, pink and white) if you want to grow Mexican Ruellia as an annual, but if you live where winters are not too cold and anywhere near a wetland, it's better to propagate sterile plants from cuttings. And it's easy.

The butterflies fluttering around in the video above are not among those that lay eggs on Ruellias. They are just going in for a snack.

One of the low-maintenance plants recommended by the State of Florida to replace the more aggressive Mexican Petunia is the lovely native Stokes Aster.

Stokes' aster (Stokesia laevis) is a versatile and showy native perennial that makes for an attractive and low-maintenance garden addition. This wildflower offers beauty with both its flowers and attractive, evergreen foliage. Stokes' aster is named to honor the English physician and botanist Jonathan Stokes who became well known for his work using foxglove (digitalis) to treat heart failure.

I like the white ones. They make great cut flowers, like the Scabiosias mentioned above. These lavender ones would also look good near a Mexican Petunia. The Gaillardia behind it in the photo (I would prefer Arizona Apricot with lavender) is reportedly hardy through Zone 3, so it can be grown in much of the lower 48, plus in large parts of inhabited Canada and Alaska.

Stokes' Aster is a very rugged plant. You don't need to worry much about it freezing in winter where Mexican Petunias grow unprotected. You may want to mulch it in winter if you live in Zone 5 or 6.

Other species of Ruellia

There are a lot of species of Ruellia. This genus is in the Acanthus family, along with Thunbergia and Justicia. The flowers of many Justicias don't look much like Ruellia flowers. I guess exploding seed pods are a feature they hold in common.

Many of the Ruellias seem to come from Brazil or Yemen. But the Wiki page on Ruellia misses some species from the USA, so there may be even more species out there! Southern Living calls the species of Ruellia we know as 'Mexican Petunia' "Willowleaf Mexican Petunia". Their "Grumpy Gardener" likes it for tough situations, surrounded by concrete.

They also discuss several other Ruellias for the garden, including a 12-foot native with 14-inch leaves and its 6 to 10 inch tall ground cover cultivar. Wonder how THAT happened? Well, it happened because they were confused. The name of that species means "low growing" (2 to 3 feet). It likes dry, open woods. Fairly cold hardy. And the plant they say is its cultivar, 'Blue Shade', appears to be another species (a ground cover that grows in the shade, as under trees, as well as in sun). The slightly taller wild form is sometimes called 'Water Bluebell' and is grown at the edge of ponds in Texas. They also name another garden species of "Mexican Petunia" which generally comes in white and needs water. It's legit.

And there is a red one from Brazil and Chile called 'Ragin' Cajun', and R. Macrantha, available here as 'Christmas Pride'. A BIG container plant if you don't live in a nearly frost-free area.

Few shrubs in our nursery score the oohs and aahs like this gorgeous late season bloomer from Brazil. Fast growing to 5' tall and 3' across with pretty, bright green leaves and stout, upright branching stems, bloom begins in Summer, revving up to a full scale spectacle come Fall and lasting until Spring, bringing juicy, tropical thrills all thru the holidays! And did I say the flowers are gorgeous? Voluptuous, 3" across, widely flaring, orchid-pink trumpets look quilted with indented dark pink veining. Easy to grow in well-drained, compost-enhanced soil. Though it's root hardy to 25 F, it does suffer damage with even light frosts. The good news is it makes a fantastic container plant (25+ gal.) that you can move to a sheltered spot in Winter. Can even be grown indoors! Cut back to 1' tall when bloom season is finished.

But let's face it: Not many of us are going to grow the dramatic plant above. If we have a 25 gallon pot we can bring indoors in winter, most of us are going to grow tomatoes or something. 25 gallons! Maybe we could underplant a big tomato plant with some actual petunias. Tomatoes and petunias, both in the nightshade family, together? Maybe. We'll look into it later.

The name of that red Ruellia, 'Ragin' Cajun', may sound like cultural appropriation to some people, since the plant comes from South America, but plant breeders are a daring bunch. It grows 12 to 16 inches tall, and blooms a lot. R. cocinnia probably attracts more hummingbirds than the others, because it is red. And it looks like it is shaped to attract hummingbirds, too.

There are some nice-looking native Ruellia species in the Southeast that are not as invasive as Mexican Petunia, though R. caroliniensis is sometimes considered to be a lawn weed. Its range extends northward to New Jersey. I think it looks pretty nice for a weed.

For members of The Horde in the desert, there is Ruellia peninsularis, AKA Baja Ruellia.

Pruning: Though occasional heading back will increase canopy density, most Baja ruellia in Phoenix urban landscapes end up being sheared along with Leucophyllum by 'horticultural clods' (a.k.a 'hort clods') into cylindrical, functional outdoor table tops or oblong beerkegs.

Disease and pests: None

Additional comments: Looks spindly without supplemental irrigation. Baja ruellia is a good, less vigorous landscape substitute for Leucophyllum frutescens var. green cloud.

A taxonomic note: Baja ruellia is a close relative to R. californica which grows exclusively in Baja.

More details on this plant. I guess there is another name for 'horticultural clods' in Arizona, too, as noted by this nursery:

Heat tolerant, sun tolerant, drought tolerant, desert ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis) grows to about 4 feet tall and can mound to about 6 feet wide, though most often this species is seen at about 3' x 3'--probably because people always prune them. They take well to pruning, but as we always say, leave your English garden in England, and let our native plants sprawl and grow! We live in Arizona, ya dootiehead!

The leaves on this desert species of Ruellia are a lot smaller than on Mexican Willowleaf Ruellia, aren't they? Don't look much like willow leaves.

Purple (sometimes almost blue) pentunia-like flowers appear most heavy in spring to summer but can be seen any time of year, especially in warm microclimates. This plant is cold hardy to about 25 degrees F. This plant takes full sun and once established, low water. Good soil drainage is best. . .

Desert ruellia is a larval host to many butterflies including the malachite (Siproeta stelenes), white peacock (Anartia jatrophae), common buckeye (Junonia coenia) and Texas crescent (Anthanassa texana). It is a nectar plant for adult butterflies of all sorts, as well as bees and other nectar-loving insects.

Other Ruellias also host butterfly caterpillars.

You are more likely to see the Malachite and White Peacock in Southern Texas and Florida than in Arizona, but the Texas Crescent lives in Arizona, too. And the Common Buckeye has a fairly large range for a little butterfly, since they move north during the summer. The favorite host plants of the Buckeye include snapdragon, gerardia, false foxglove, monkey flowers, plantains, ruellia and others.
Always fun to see one!

Puttering

This is a friend's "Bee Balm" quilt top, for the new son of a friend.

The Almanac featured a piece on how to plant, grow and care for bee balm this week. There are many species of Bee Balm, including Bergamot, Oswego Tea and Lemon Balm. Does this one remind you of the quilt pattern above? It's Horse Mint.

You might be more familiar with this one.

GARDENS OF THE HORDE

40 Miles North reports on the first bulbs to appear in 2022! Any bulbs making an appearance where you are?

The narcissus are flowering:

Some of them are larger than average:

He has some rosemary blooming, too, but I'm saving the information on that . . .

Last week, we had comments on growing sprouts and pea shoots in winter, desert gardening, sewing, dresses (RIP, Oregon Muse), meal worms, citrus, orchids, persistent Johnny Jump-Ups, trying to start a date seed (why, we don't know yet) and much more.

Is anything going on in YOUR garden?

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

posted by K.T. at 01:08 PM

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