The flower looks like a ruellia, but the plant really doesn't...are you sure the flower goes with the foliage ?

Yep, that's it!

Dang.

I do still love it, it's just so cute, but it seems like so often when I think I"ve rescued a lost treasure, it turns out to be...not.

When I first started studying roses, I pored over all the information I could find to try to identify one that grew beneath my window.

Once-blooming, climber or rambler, gorgeous riot of red when it flowered.

I just knew I had a *find*, but maybe an unidentifiable one.

I was so successful at propagating it from a cutting that I thought I must have a real gift for roses.

Then one day when my Pat Austin rose was struggling (do not plant Pat Austin in the western sun!), I saw that old-fashioned red rose next to her.

It wasn't next to her.

It was growing out of the same plant.

It was Dr Huey.

the rootstock.

Wild petunia can actually work as a decent ground-cover in heavy shade where it looks a bit less ragged than it does in sun. Downside is that it volunteers worse than salvia coccinea. We're pulling our shade experiment because of the added weeding effort it creates throughout the other shaded beds.... and any pots that get within "spittin'" distance. Seeds from the sunnier alley bed mostly get washed down the storm drains, so will keep them for now. It's a host plant for 3 or 4 butterflies which is a main reason we encouraged it, but have not seen any signs of activity here after several years.

Here's how it has been flowering since late July in nearly full shade:

Agree about watching the pots - friend had one wild petunia pop up in a single container plant... 2 yrs later every deck pot was solid with them.

love that shade groundcover idea! It gets a bit of morning sun now, & then shade...I placed it there to lessen transplant stress!