Dear Craig:

I found a plant that I want to add to my landscape, ruellia. I didn’t realize that there is more than one variety and I’m not sure which one I want. What is the difference between them?

Alice in New River

 

Dear Alice:

Ruellia makes a great addition to almost any landscape. There are two main varieties, Ruellia peninsularis and Ruellia brittoniana with its subspecies. Both plants prove very drought tolerant, but the brittonians look best with ample water. Both varieties take full sun, are evergreen, and will drop some foliage when temperatures fall below freezing during the winter months. The brittonians are much more colorful, leafier, and more dramatic in our southwest gardens.  

Ruellia peninsularis, or Baja ruellia, can grow anywhere from two to five feet tall with a four or five foot spread. Its leaves are smaller and not as lush or full as the brittoniana, exposing its grayish stems in many areas unless sheared or trimmed, forcing it to produce more foliage. This plant works well as transitional planting or hedges if you maintain shearing. Flowers bloom throughout the spring and summer in shades of lavender and purple. During monsoons and summer rains, seedpods can be heard imitating a bowl of Rice Krispies with their “snap, crackle, pop.” 

The Ruellia brittoniana comes in either broad‑leaf or narrow‑leaf varieties and has subspecies with purple, pink or white flowers that bloom during the morning hours. When the sun reaches its peak around noon, the flowers close and do not open again until the next day. The flowers blossom in abundance, making Ruellia brittoniana one of the most colorful shrubs during our hot summer months. It can reach heights of three feet and more with a four‑foot spread. These shrubs are so versatile that they can be planted in a Xeriscape –requiring little water–or a green landscape, where they will thrive with regular watering. They can even be used in ponds as marginal water plants, sometimes seen listed for sale as “Blue Bells” at some pond supply stores.  The broad‑leaf brittoniana is available in a dwarf variety, Ruellia Katie. These shrubs generally have purple flowers, although they are starting to show up at growers with pink and white flowers. They stay around 12 inches high, making them the perfect choice next to walkways and in areas where space is limited. They nicely accent the front of larger shrubs or around trees and can be used in mass as a ground cover.