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Texas Gardening

What to plant with ruellia?

9 years ago

My mother gave me a few ruellia she had pulled out of her garden last summer. I planted them thinking they would die off during winter and wouldn't come back. They did indeed all die back, several of which I snapped off the dead stalks and leaves when it started warming up. Well it seemed like overnight they came back late spring and they look great! They are handling this year's summer like a champ. Seeing how well they did and how they spread, I'd love to just let them go wild. I have them in a west facing bed with an elaeagnus and a few texas sage.

What could I plant that would be a nice visual counterpoint to the growth habit of ruellia but is just as tough and vigorous? I know some folks really do not like them but they seem to behave well for me and they like the tough spot they're in. Besides, I think they're pretty :) I've attached a pic I had posted on my facebook.

Comments (8)

dbarron
9 years ago
Turks cap, desert four oclocks, any number of sages, engelmannii daisy (my favorite)...spring to mind.
TxMarti
9 years ago
Ack, I had a post and tapped the wrong button and lost it all.

Is this flower bed against the west wall of your house? That's the tough part. Plants that can take the extra reflected heat and look good with it - some I have had success with on my west wall, and would contrast nicely with your two plants are Salvia greggii and Rosemary. I haven't tried Engelman daisy, but I think that would be a good choice too, as would Salvia splendens. I have tried Turk's cap next to my west wall and it couldn't take the heat.
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aztreelvr that's exactly what i'm hoping for :) I have a 4ft x 160ft section sitting outside of my cedar privacy fence. i had planned to have alot of shrubs planted there last year, but that didn't work out. just as well, thinking about it now it's probably more maintenance than I'd want to keep up with for a section of my property that only the neighbors get to enjoy. I figure I'll plant a few shrubs like hopseed, bougainvillea, and GC sage for interest but basically let the ruellia have the rest. the area is boxed in between my fence and the sidewalk. it might creep into my neighbor's section down the street but he doesn't care, he said he'll just mow it with the rest of his grass. it might creep into the other side of my fence as well, but i don't mind. if it gets out of hand i'll hoe sections of it out every couple weeks when i'm cleaning up the rest of the gardens. i probably will wait until fall to plant them though, i don't even have a drip line set up out there yet and it's getting hot pretty fast this year :( maybe we'll have an early autumn...
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@Soleil.Blume.Hooke, Was wondering if anyone had done anything other than try to kill these. At least one prominent TAMU (tx a&m) horticulturist considers this Texas native "nothing more than a troublesome and persistent weed." I've not found it hard to manage in our heavy clay; but imagine it could be worse in looser soils due to all the viable seed it drops. It's ruellia brittoniana that's usually sold locally. I went ahead and planted the 3ft x 16ft back alley strip with r. nudiflora, so will see what happens. Many of the neighbors are growing dandelions in this space, so figure an equally persistent native with longer blooming season is fair game.
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sylviatexas1
9 years ago
Yellow or orange daylilies;
they're tough & they bloom all summer.
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
9 years ago
Seem to recall some Greg Grant (?) designs where 'Ice Follies' daffodils or Snowflake (leucojum aestivum) were mixed among ruellia.
Gretchen W.
9 years ago
What about Mexican petunias? They are taller and do take the sun quite well.
PKponder TX Z7B
9 years ago
I think they would be pretty with one of the blue or purplish salvias. My personal fave is Black and Blue, but I don't know what size plant that you were thinking of. Mine get close to 3 feet tall and may dwarf your wee ruellias.
paradisecircus
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I'll look them and see what speaks to me. Yes, the bed they're in is up against a west facing wall. The heat gets pretty intense there at times but these plants don't seem to be phased by it at all. My mom said she's had them in her flowerbeds for a few years now. She's never covered them in winter and they always come back. Here's hoping they'll stay just as tough for me in my beds!
bjb817
9 years ago
I've read complaints that they become a thug in some people's gardens, but I've never had a problem with them getting out of control. I couldn't agree more that they're one tough customer! My only complaint is that they do go dormant in the winter as you discovered, but hey, you can't have everything I guess.

I agree that they'd mix well with Cherry Sage. White or red would be a nice contrast, IMO.

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