He’s growin’ Mexican Petunias nowadays.
Y’all may remember that the ol’ Slacker was playin’ at being a gentleman farmer earlier this spring when he started taking care of three little adopted mater plants. Well, them mater plants never did put out too many maters… and the ones they did put out were so little it was shameful to take ’em away from their mothers.
A friend gave the ol’ Slacker some pretty Mexican Petunia plants in pots this week for his birthday. She gave them to him because he had admired the one in her backyard so much. They put out these little purple flowers every morning. They’re gone by the evening, though. Then they make a miraculous comeback again the next morning. Beautiful!
She gave me two. I bought four more today. Now I have six of ’em planted along the eastern fence line in my backyard. They need full sunshine. With all the oak trees in my yard, that’s about the only place that I could plant them where they would thrive. It’s a good spot, though. I get to see those pretty purple flowers every morning from my bedroom and kitchen/dining room windows.
So, Farmer Slackers growin’ purty things now. We’ll grow some more maters again this coming spring, though.
Mexican Petunias (Ruellia Brittoniana)
Later…
~Eric
Image credits: Mexican Petunias – Thanks to Phillip’s Natural World for the use of the pretty picture above. Also, I recommend Phillip’s wonderful article about his own Mexican Petunias experience.
Further reading:
Floridata – #99 Ruellia brittoniana
How To Care For A Mexican Petunia
EmilyCompost – Mexican Petunia <– What a great name for a gardening site!~vtel 🙂
Nocturnal Slacker v2.0 
You won’t have any problem growing these bad boys. They grow and spread like weeds. No care needed for them at all. I planted some in my back yard last summer and they are the only things that survived the hard frosts we had earlier this year. We have to prune them back often because they are taking over now. Good plant for you, all you have to do is watch them grow and bloom everyday. They do also have blooms in the afternoos as well. Enjoy!!
Yeah… I was told they were pretty carefree and hardy type plants. That’s definitely the kind I like. I’d like to see ’em make a sort of hedge along that eastern fence line (the chain link by the clothes line) in my backyard. That would be nice. 🙂