i have a species ruellia-never more than a foot but nevada isnt really the place to grow it

Mine is still young. I planted it from a 4" container about 1.5 years ago, but I pruned it back pretty hard a few times last season. It is currently 2.5', so 3-4' does not seem unreasonable for an established plant. It may depend upon the growing conditions; sunny keeping them shorter while bright shade, such as mine gets, might produce a taller plant.

Thanks. It won't get full sun, I think I will play it safe and not put it in the front of the border.

I would be interested in if it has the thuggish characteristics that its brethren have. Ruella Chi Chi ran me out of my old house and home. It even hit me in the eye with a spit seed!How rude. I have seen these in gardens and they always look nice but they normally are youngish plants No large specimens.

Wantonamara

I hear you about the thugly attributes of ruellia. I had some of the purple ones against a back fence at my previous home and they turned into quite a patch, that was a good thing because the area was beyond the reach of a hose and they seemed happy with no supplemental watering.
I am retired and the garden area I have now is smaller than the gardens in my previous home, so I have both the time and inclination to keep an eye on the behavior of the plants.

I bought mine from Annie's Annuals and Perennials. The description on that site, and in my experience so far, this ruellia is not invasive. I have propagated it easily by breaking off and rooting some of the branches, but it has not spread at all by runner or seed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ruellia elegans Annie's Page

Thank you, for the description and link.

Grief, another plant it is impossible to find seeds for in the UK. Too annoying for words. I grow the related strobilanthes and am really keen to grow ruellias, not least because of their predilection for light shade. Seed sources in US?

Campanula, Talking about seeds in america, look in your email of me. I sent you an email.I have a growing envelope waiting for an address.