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Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

Where the Wild Petunia Blooms

August 24, 2017 By Carol Michel 9 Comments

I do love a gentle self-sower in the garden, one that establishes itself here and there without looking like it is intent on crowding out every other plant around it.

I love a flower that is content to remain in the background of the garden and doesn’t shout with color or scent as if to say “look at me”.

I love a native flower, too, one that might, if I was a lucky gardener, just one day show up in my garden.

Do you know what flower is all of these things I love about flowers?


The wild petunia is all of these things I love about flowers.


Ruellia humilis, self-sows, but not so much that you think it is going to choke out all the plants around it.

Its little bluish purple flowers don’t shout or have a heavy scent.

And it is native to the Eastern United States.

I got my wild petunia start from another gardener. It was a raggedy little snatch of root and shoot that I hurriedly planted one cold November day.  I wondered if it would make it. Later that next summer, after I had mostly forgotten about it, I stumbled upon its blue flower.

Since then, I never cut back the wild petunias, not even in late fall. I just let them be.

Sure, sometimes in a fit of weeding madness, I might pull one out.  But I just shove it back in the ground with a quick apology and a little pat as soon as I realize it.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, faster than a glacier, but not as quick as a dandelion, wild petunias are making a little stand in my garden.

It’s becoming a place where the wild petunia blooms.

And that makes me happy.

Wildflower Wednesday is always the fourth Wednesday of the month.  Check out Clay and Limestone to find out who else is writing about wildflowers today.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: wildflower wednesday

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lea@Lea's Menagerie says

    August 24, 2017 at 4:01 am

    Great photo of a very pretty wildflower! I discovered wild petunias growing near the edge of our woods. They are wonderful little plants!
    Happy Wildflower Wednesday

    Reply
  2. Gail says

    August 24, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    Such a sweet little flower and it can take drought! Happy WW.

    Reply
  3. Lisa at Greenbow says

    August 24, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    I have always admired this brilliant blue flower. I don't have it in my garden. I must track it down.

    Reply
  4. Covegirl says

    August 24, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    Love this wildflower!

    Reply
  5. Dee @ Red Dirt Ramblings says

    August 24, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    Carol, I don't have that one, but I do often pull up things in spring and shove them back in with a little pat. I love that.~~Dee

    Reply
  6. growingagardenindavis says

    August 24, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    I had never heard of this, that I recall. Lovely!

    Reply
  7. Jeannie says

    August 25, 2017 at 1:58 am

    "A fit of weeding madness", yes, I too have been affected by that malady and had to apologize later.

    Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry.Blogspot.com

    Reply
  8. Diana Studer says

    August 25, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    A place where the wild petunia blooms – I like that!

    Reply
  9. Ilse Gibowski says

    January 8, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    Wo kann man die blaue, wilde Petunie , vielleicht als Samen kaufen?

    Reply

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