Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Monday - June 25, 2012

From: Tucson, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Container Gardens, Propagation, Pruning, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Making Ruellia nudiflora thicker in pot from Tucson AZ
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Can Ruellia Nudiflora be propagated in the same pot as the parent plant? Can it be cut back to stimulate a denser plant? I have plants in several pots and would like to 'thicken' the plant. Thanks for any assistance

ANSWER:

Happily, Ruellia nudiflora (Violet ruellia), is native to Arizona, so we can go to our webpage on that plant (by following the plant link above) to get information on propagation, bloom time and care, etc. From the Conditions Comments on that page is this line:

"Cut back after each flush of blossoms to keep compact and blooming all summer."

You can read the Propagation Instructions on that page, although it does not address growing the plant in a pot. If you are confined to pot gardening, you might read our How-To Article on Container Gardening with Native Plants for some more ideas on how to handle plants grown in this manner. If for the impact of a full pot if for no other reason, we believe we would populate each pot with plants that are in the same stage of development. Propagating several small plants in one pot and then transplanting them to a larger pot would probably be more satisfactory than having the new seedlings and established plants sharing space.

More information from Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers.

From the Image Gallery

Violet ruellia
Ruellia nudiflora