The tame Mexican petunia.

You probably have seen the Mexican petunia and admired its consistent purple or pink flowering and low-maintenance habit.  You also may have heard that Mexican petunia is a Category I invasive plant which “…..are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.”  Now for the good news!  The market and scientists have worked together to solve problems such as this invasive issue.   Through some breeding programs, there are now sterile Mexican petunia cultivars that do not produce seed. 

Native to Mexico and parts of South America, the Mexican petunia is a successful invasive plant in the southeastern United States where it has escaped into natural areas tolerating all conditions- sun, shade, wet, dry and even poor soil.  Abundant seeds, and quick rooting from stem pieces, makes this plant preadapted to get out of control.  The seedpods are noted for ejecting their seeds some distance further enhancing their invasive nature.  A solution for this was to find sterile cultivars that would not produce viable seed and at least stop that route of expansion.  One such early type found is called ‘Purple Showers’, a sterile type with large flowers, but very tall, floppy growth noted for falling over. 

After years of breeding work, two new sterile varieties were released in 2012 called ‘Mayan Purple’ and ‘Mayan White’.  These cultivars have great flowering ability and shorter heights that really offer great eye appeal.  I bought a ‘Mayan White’ not long ago and it is spectacular!  I planted it in a large tub container surrounded by blue salvia and am very pleased with the look.  And if you are wondering where the pink one is, ‘Mayan Pink’ was introduced in 2013 and is also available. 

The sterile cultivars of Mexican petunias are out and are a great substitute for the wild-type invasive version.  While they can still grow and increase as a clump, their invasive nature via seed is gone making them much more manageable.   For more information on all types of perennial plants suitable for our area, please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764-4340 for gardening help and insight into their role as an Extension volunteer.  Don't forget to visit our other County Plant Clinics in the area.  Please check this link for a complete list of site locations, dates and times - http://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/Plant%20Clinics%20Schedule.pdf.

  

Resources:

Reinhardt Adams, C. A. , Wiese, C., Lee, L. C., Wilson, S. B., Smith, A. M. & Freyre, R. (2014) Managing Mexican Petunia (Ruellia simplex C. Wright) in the Home Landscape.  The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS. 

Freyre, R.  Knox, G. W., Reinhardt Adams, C. A. Wilson, S. B. (2014) Mexican Petunia: new sterile cultivars and management of invasive populations in natural areas.  The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS. 

Caldwell, D. (2016) Cute Little Plants That Take-over Your Yard-Mexican petunia.  The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS – Collier County.

Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s 2015 List of Invasive Plant Species. http://www.fleppc.org/list/2015FLEPPCLIST-LARGEFORMAT-FINAL.pdf