RUELLIA brittoniana 'Katie'

Graceful perennial and semi-deciduous plant, with a characteristic bushy and compact habit. Native to Mexico, and dwarf form of the Ruellia brittoniana, it can grow quickly up to a maximum height of 40 cm and a slightly greater width. Densely branched from the base, it has erect semi-woody stems that bear attractive opposite leaves, hairless and smooth, linear or lanceolate, up to 20 cm long and no more than 2 cm large, with smooth margins and acute apex and dark green. In summer and until late autumn, numerous blue-violet flowers of about 4 cm in diameter grow on the apical parts of the branches. They are trumpet shaped and smell like the petunia, hence the popular name "Mexican petunia” attributed to this plant. These flowers attract the attention of butterfly clouds.

Easy to cultivate, it needs a sunny position but during the hottest hours of summer, it should not be exposed to direct sun. Avoid full shade because the plant could grow anyway, but its beautiful summer flowering would be limited. It is suitable to any type of soil, but it prefers those rich in humus, fertile, humid and above all well-drained, because it does not tolerate water stagnation. Once established and developed, it tolerates drought but benefits from repeated and alternating irrigation, especially in the hottest periods of summer. It does not tolerate cold, especially if intense and prolonged. Cold could in fact lead to the loss of leaves, which will reappear in spring quickly covering the plant. After the vegetative restart, a light pruning can be carried out removing the old, dry, disordered branches and shortening the longer ones in order to give a thicker and more compact shape to the plant. It can be grown in pots or containers that will be moved to sheltered places during the winter in the coldest areas; in the open ground, it can be used as a ground cover plant or for the creation of low borders.