On Gardening: Machu Morado is the Ruellia you’ve always wanted
Norman Winter, Tribune News Service
Machu Morado is one of the most intriguing new plants in both name and performance. In reality it is a dream come true but I’ll explain. First it is a Mexican petunia or Ruellia, the gregarious “Uncle Buck” of the Acanthus family. A lot of gardening folks think it is a petunia.
These are the purple blue flowers that look so mystical in color and that everyone deeply wants in the garden. This is the Ruellia however that strikes fear and trepidation for having a reputation of aggressiveness to the point of sparking anger in some.
Machu Morado is one of the most intriguing new plants in both name and performance. In reality, it is a dream come true. First it is a Mexican petunia or ruellia, the gregarious “Uncle Buck” of the Acanthus family. A lot of gardening folks think it is a petunia.
These are the purple-blue flowers that look so mystical in color and that everyone deeply wants in the garden. This is the ruellia that strikes fear and trepidation for having a reputation of aggressiveness to the point of sparking anger in some.
But Proven Winners has introduced this new version and has given it a name hinting at one of the wonders of the world Machu Picchu. This is the most visited site in Peru and to me most appropriate as Peru is one of the countries where ruellia is native.