Sorry you got stuck with the invasive ones. I just love the sterile ones, and they don't cause any problems whatsoever. They are a real workhorse in my garden.

How do you plan to get rid of the invasive ones? Round Up? Sweat and toil?

Marcia

I've been doing the sweat and toil route, and it's just too much for me. So I'm going to switch to the round-up method. A Master Gardener's method sounds like a winner. Don a thick rubber glove, new, without any holes in it. Put a larger, cotton man's glove over top of the rubber glove. Wet the cotton glove well with round-up, and just run the glove over the stems, from the roots to the ends of the invasive plant. She claims it worked well for her for some trumpet vine that came across from her neighbor's vine and took over her plantings. Sounds like the easiest way to get rid of these buggers, to me.

girlsaylor

Are you guyrs talking about purple showers?

http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/ruellia-brittoniana-purple-showers.aspx

At least I think this is the correct image/plant/link/ I have them in my front yard, house I purchased. The stalks are say pencil thin almost look like bamboo, new flowering daily? They are all over the place in S. Fl. Not sure why nurseries are alloud to sell them, state of FL lists as invasive I believe.

Can you not just spray round up on them? The glove work better? I plan on finally pulling mine out in spring.

Linchat, yes that's what she is talking about, but as I have mentioned in many, many posts, there are STERILE ones available now that are not invasive, so don't think that all of the ones you see in people's yards will end up in yours.

I would not be without them in my garden. They are absolutely a necessity for me, with non-stop blooming, and attracting butterflies and hummers, both. Plus, they are drought tolerant and come back fine after freezes. The sterile ones DO NOT spread.

For anyone who wants a trouble free and beautiful purple flower, you can't go wrong with them, but you have to buy the Florida Friendly Plants brand, and I've only seen them for sale at Home Depot. (Seems like I post about these 100 times a year, but many people still don't know about them).

As you can see on the label, they are sterile, therefore non-invasive. I've grown this brand for about six years, and not one of them has spread anywhere. In my post about my September Garden, you can see one blooming front and center in my mixed bed. It's been in that exact spot for four years.

Marcia

girlsaylor - That's how my dad has used round-up in beds for years - also a sponge-type paintbrush for extra tight areas.

FWIW - I had the "Florida Friendly" ruellia in one of my side beds for one year. Where a stem or piece of stem was on the ground, it rooted and spread. I am in the process of trying to remove it from one of my beds. Easier to control than the non-sterile (which is existing on the back fence row in the neighbor's yard), but the "Florida Friendly" will spread in my zone anyway.

Terri

A branch rooting where it touches the ground would not be something I personally would call invasive, though you have to decide for yourself it it bothers you. But just about every shrub in my yard will root if a branch is lying on the ground, so for myself, I'm not concerned about that.

With this plant in the invasive form, it sends seeds everywhere, for blocks around, and it sends plantlets popping up yards away from the parent. So the sterile factor means no seeds, and as I was explaining in another post, basically the clump will get larger (like daylilies do) and can be divided. But no runners will be popping up in neighboring beds, and absolutely no seedlings anywhere.

That works for me.

Marcia

I had the same experience as ladywingr with the florida friendly sterile ones. Normally I don't go to HD to buy plants, but my local nursery didn't have them (now I know why), so I went to HD and found the sterile ones with tags pictured as above. After a year, the clumps were sending out underground rhizomes in a widespread fashion. I had also rooted them under the pagoda clerodendrum to hide the naked knees these plants tend to have. The ruellias have traveled by underground rhizomes more than these clerodendrums which many consider invasive (and I'm very vigilant about containing). I had my DH dig up all the ruellias with a shovel (he is a strong man and did a thorough job), and since then, a number of rhizomes have popped up in nearby areas and are flowering. I am leaving them for now, but this winter will try to get rid of them again. I must say they have not seeded, it's just the rhizomes that have been the problem for me. Perhaps it's that we are at a somewhat warmer zone. I am a 9b/10a zone in my estimation. I will not get them again and can't say that I recommend them at least in my area.

Anna

It's interesting. I've had them at two houses, and the rhizomes from the sterile ones have never popped up more than one to two INCHES from the parent plant. As I say, I've been growing these for about six years, in several beds at each house, with no problems at all. Can't imagine why it would be any different, unless it's a zone thing.

My clumps will add new shoots right at the base, ONLY, each shoot right beside the previous one. Not even as much as six inches away. They thicken up like daylilies or irises do, and that's it, in my experience in the Orlando and Sanford areas.

Of course, if you have neighbors anywhere on your block growing the invasive ones, those can pop up anywhere in your yard, for sure. Not saying that's what's happened to you folks, but it does happen. I've got pink ones that pop up in my yard coming from a yard six houses away from me. I remove them. But my sterile ones are wonderful.

Marcia

Although the glove method for Round-up sounds like it would be effective, it also sounds like it involved too much bending! I've used the small paintbrush method and it works great in tight areas where you don't want to kill nearby plants. A paint roller works great for weedy ground covers like you would find under a shrub.

Mostly I pull weeds by hand but sometimes they get out of control and need to be taught a Round-up lesson.

Kate

Round em up, knock em down, cover em up with HEAVY sheets of cardboard and hide cardboard with mulch.This worked for me till I got impatient, poked a hole in the cardboard to add a bush and they found their way out!

I have learned alot about these plants here. I have to agree with Anna and Terri. It appears what my landlady planted may have been the sterile strain. BUT, the rizomes are too aggressive! This planting began as maybe three plants; my landlady is notoriously plant-challenged, and does not consider plant habits and mature size when planting. Consequently, everything to the front of the bed has been smothered and killed by these things, in their rizomatous madness.

While some may feel this is acceptable growth habit, I do not want to care for such ill-mannered plants. There are plenty of well-behaved plants to choose from. These things are going to DIE, one way or another. The only way I can make my life easier is to change the plantings to easier care plants. I won't be fibbing when I tell her, they just died...lololol

For those who like them, you can come get mine if you want (anybody got a strong back here?!!) Since I am alone in caring for this mess, and have health issues that make gardening very difficult (besides the joints, add heart and lung issues), I'm not going to kill myself over her bad choices.

girlsaylor

I would certainly NOT consider what you describe as an acceptible growth habit. Just saying mine do not do that, and maybe Anna is right that the rhizomes are stronger farther south. For whatever reason, if they are growing that heavily in your yard, I don't blame you for wanting them gone. I'm just glad that they don't do that up here, because I would truly miss mine.

I have used a 2" wide paint brush taped to a long handle to Round Up the weeds that pop up in my brick paths. I find it to be a much better way to control the application. I like the glove idea, too, but I'm with Kate...my old back would BREAK if I tried that. But the paint ROLLER idea is wonderful. If I taped a small 4" sponge roller to my handle, I could probably clean that path out even more quickly.

Just be careful not to get any RoundUp on nearby plants you plan to keep. That's why Mark is no longer allowed to SPRAY the paths. He always managed to get some overspray into the beds.

Good luck,
Marcia

The outdoor garden clerk at Home Depot gave me a tip for using Roundup. It was to cut the bottom off a one gallon plastic (milk) jug, then put the jug over the offending plant and spray Roundup through the opening where the cap goes. This keeps the spray directed to the offending plant.
I haven't tried it yet, I'm just passing the tip on....!

and like you say, maybe they don't spread seed everywhere(phew, because I'm right across the street from a wetlands area) but they are definitely all over nearby crotons and pentas.

I love them, but they need to be between two cement pieces so they don't affect other plants, is what I am learning.

I think this weekend I'll pull them all up because they are just too aggressive.

That being said, my mom is thrilled to pick up a stem, stick in the ground and have NO PROBLEMS with it taking and you get all that color, they are so low maintenance, never die.
teeka

i have those growing in my backyard leeway, im pretty sure they are wild but they are not aggressive at all. i really like them because they attract rare green orchid bees down here.

the most aggressive things i deal with here are bitter melon vine (the fruit stay small)
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and the dreaded Brazilian pepper tree, there was a humongous one in my leeway i chopped down because the birds used to ravage it and spread the seeds all over.
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Although 'Purple Showers' is sterile, in a sandy soil with nothing to impede it like a thick helthy swath of St Augustine or a sidewalk, its rooting, floppy stems readily have it spreading aggressively.

"Sterile" isn't synonymous with non-invasive, especially in context of being able to displace native forbs and wildflowers. :(

girlsaylorz- your post is a classic example of right plant - right place . If only people would research what they plant before they purchase something pretty !

As Marcia stated , not all Ruellias are evil .

I use the term non-invasive because that's all Florida Friendly Plants sells, and that's what they advertise their sterile ruellia as being (see tag pictured above).

Honestly, I'm sort of worn out with trying to help people choose a great plant that won't take over their gardens. Lots of plants if allowed, can take over after awhile, btw...even azaleas can get out of bounds by rooting everywhere they touch the ground. Many need to be kept in check, and a certain amount of maintenance is necessary to keep most plants in line.

All I know is what I have experienced with this plant, which makes it a must-have in my own garden, compared to the non-sterile one which goes everywhere. If it isn't working in a particular garden, take it out. But please don't condemn all ruellias as being invasive across the board, and please don't think that everyone who plants them has done the environment and the neighborhood a disservice. It aint' necessarily so.

Marcia

girlsaylorz, glad to see you back and hope you are feeling better.
Nancy

boom1,

I found bitter melon vine in my neighborhood. Didn't know what it was, luckily you posted a picture.

Is it very aggressive? Is it an invasive? Google only tells me about its medicinal value.

it is extremely invasive and aggressive. every fenceline in my neighborhood is covered in it making eradicating it from my yard impossible.

i am managing it and growing pasiflora along my fenceline in an attempt to choke it out but it is extremely aggressive.

it is supposed to be a miracle tonic for diabetes

Thanks for the welcome back Nancy. I hope this time I'll be able to hang out for awhile. :-)

Now, ladies, I know what that awful vine is that smothers everything in its path - bitter melon vine. I have that one here, as well, trying to blanket everything in its path. Ugh, it's a bugger as well.

Today I did not put in my one hour's worth of work out in the yard, like I've been disciplining myself to do. We had a death in the family over the holiday (my older brother), and I'm just trying to keep myself moving here. No motivation, argh.

girlsaylor

boom1,

Thanks for the warning.

Girlsaylor, I'm so sorry to hear that. No wonder you are not inspired to deal with working in the yard. I hope you will soon be feeling better, and my thoughts are with you.

Marcia

boom1 do you ever feel guilty about using pictures other than your own?

Anyone battling air potatoes like me? They are tough to beat!

Marcia - I understand!

Someone posts, asking, "Is this type of tree (variety XYZ) a good tree for my back yard?" One person responds "horrible - seedlings pop up all over!!" Another says, "its not bad - I don't have that many seedlings". The original poster doesn't know how to weigh the responses - to them, it seems like it is a 50/50 call - even if one responder is a much more experienced gardener than the other. It is an inherent problem with a message board forum.

Boom, I was just as a Jamaican friend's house and she had pulled some out and they were lying in the driveway. I said 'oh you've been busy weeding' and she was like 'no, I'm drying it out a bit before I make tea!' Lol, she told me she loves it for it's medicinal value and that she culivates it on her chain link fence. LOL

Like everyones been saying right plant right place and sometimes no matter what things have a way of getting out of control and then it's time to stock up on the cold beer and round-up lol!