Katie Blue Ruellia, Dwarf Ruellia, Dwarf Mexican Petunia, Desert Petunia, Mexican Blue Bells, Florida Bluebells

This is the average expected mature height by width in feet or inches. Feet are represented by a single quote and inches by a double quote. Parentheses are used to indicate that the plant can potentially reach that dimension, although the sizes outside of the parentheses tend to be more typical. Under poor growing conditions plants may be slightly to significantly smaller, whereas excellent growing conditions can produce larger more vigorous plants.

USDA Cold Hardiness Zones were established to give gardeners, horticulturists, farmers, nurseries, and landscape architects a universal way to describe where a plant will survive with regard to average winter lows for a region. And these are averages, here in zone 8B ('A' represents the colder half of a zone and 'B' represents the warmer half of the zone and they are separated by about 5^oF) we have seen single digits but that is the exception but should be noted by the daring gardener. Each zone is separated by 10^oF and the map was updated in 2012. Our zones do not always agree but we try to use our own experience as to what can be depended on to return or have known reputable gardens and or horticulturists to reliably grow that plant in zones that are usually colder but sometimes warmer than what other resources have available. For more on stretching your cold hardiness zones see the ""Growing on the Edge Growing Guide". If you do not know your zone you can find it by clicking on the "USDA Cold Hardiness Zones" link here or above.

Full Sun - 8 hours or more of direct sunlight; Partial Sun or Partial Shade - 4-6 hours of direct sunlight; AM Sun or Morning Sun or Cool Sunlight - cool sunlight but usually in the shade during the heat of the day; Light Shade - Bright indirect sunlight for much of the day; Filtered Shade - may receive some amount of direct moving sunlight like through trees but usually not for any extended period especially during the heat of the day; Shade - no or very little direct sunlight, especially not during the heat of the day.

Acidic or Strongly Acidic - pH less than 5.5; Mildly Acidic - pH 5.6-6.5; Neutral - pH 6.6-7.3; Mildly Alkaline - pH 7.4-8.4; Alkaline or Strongly Alkaline pH higher than 8.4. Acid loving plants that are grown under alkaline conditions often exhibit nutrient deficiencies since the roots are not able to draw some types of minerals from the soil. Gardenias, for instance, may need to be sprayed with chelated iron. Most plants that are native to alkaline soils can be grown in neutral to mildly acidic soils successfully, although the opposite generally is not true.

These are the basic soil types and moisture levels where this plant will survive, not necessarily thrive. Drought resistant plants will need to be well-established, usually 2-3 years at a minimum, in the garden or landscape before they are able to withstand lengthy periods (weeks or months) without supplemental water. Most plants will grow and flower and or fruit best where they have ample moisture and nutrients available during the growing season. With that said, many plants, like prairie natives, are quite adaptable to soil types and can thrive in heavy clay as easily as a loose sandy loam.

A breathable organic mulch is not only aesthetically pleasing (looks nice) but can:

• Help to improve soil organic matter as it breaks down.
• Provide shade for the soil to help reduce moisture loss and prevent weed seed germination.
• Provide soil microbes, mycorrhizae (beneficial fungi), earthworms,and even nematode predators the necessary organic matter and ecosystem to thrive while their actions aid in improving soil tilth and or friability (think of this as the ease with which roots are able to penetrate the soil).
• Provide insulation to protect the crowns of tender perennials and die-back perennials giving gardeners up to an extra half a zone of winter warmth allowing us to grow that which we normally could not.
• Provide soil temperature moderation preventing premature soil warming in winter and providing a cooler root zone in summer.
• So which mulch is our favorite? Our preferred mulch is Longleaf Pine Straw which has: a natural weed preventative for the first year after it is applied; it is sustainably harvested; and it provides protection from soil erosion and doesn't float away, and yet is still both insulative and breathable; while Longleaf Pine Straw appears to last the longest in the garden and landscape in our opinion as compared to Loblolly.

The salt tolerance of plants is a relative description of how tolerant they are to windborne or aerosol and soil borne salt levels. Many plants can tolerate seaside and other coastal habitats or roadsides where deicing has occurred wonderfully while others may die or can simply survive and suffer along. If this does not say specifically that a plant is resistant to windborne or aerosol salts then we simply do not have that data available at this time.