Sorry... I don't have a photo. But I've been seeing it at two houses on my commute. The flowers remind me of either Petunias or Morning Glories. At first I thought it was just morning glories growing over a shrub, but the flowers are there in the afternoon too. And they appear to be actually blooming from the shrub. I've been tempted to stop and either get a photo or ask the owners... but it's not in a very good part of town and I'm not comfortable just knocking on the door. Does it sound familiar?
I don't think so (but I could be wrong). It's a round full shrub. I have low growing Mexican Petunias... but the leaves just don't look like this shrub.
Cheryl the Mexican Petunia you have is the dwarf variety. There is one that gets to be about 4-5 feet tall and if there is a large clump of them they could look like a shrub from a passing car. Check out Katybug's photo on the Ruellia brittoniana (Mexican Petunia) plant page.
It could be the old-fashioned Rose of Sharon (hibiscus syriacus). The new cultivars usually have multi-petaled blooms, but the old ones had blooms that looked like big petunias. If so, Rose of Sharon start easily from cuttings. Personally, if there was a plant I wanted a start of I'd march right up to the prison doors of Sing Sing and ask for cuttings! But then, I've had a rich and full life . . . .
Toni... even the tall Mexican Petunias have the the long narrow leaves... these appear to be more rounded. Jane... It may be Rose of Sharon. That's alot closer than the Mexican Petunia. If I see someone outside, I may muster up the courage to stop and ask about it. Heck, even if there were a shoulder on the road, I could at least pull over and get a photo. Sure don't want to cause an accident!
That's a possibility too! Okay... I'm just going to have to stop by one of those houses. Maybe this weekend. So, if y'all don't hear from me by Monday, start looking for me on FM160 just south of Hwy. 90!
Saw 2 little girls playing in the yard of one of the houses today, so I stopped in. Heck... even if they were really bad kids, I bet I still could have beaten them in a fight! Anyhow, they were sweet kids. The oldest, probably around 10-12 went to go ask her mom about the shrub. She came back and said that the mom didn't know what it was and that it was planted by her mom. So I politely asked the kid if she thought it would be okay if I took a picture so I could find out what it was. She said and I quote "Heck... I don't care. Even take a piece of it you want." So I snapped off the youngest looking branch that I could find. Anyhow... the photos aren't great, I was blocking the driveway and someone was waiting to come in. So here's the bloom and a close up of the leaves from the twig I got. I'm thinking Rose of Sharon. What do you all think? unknown flower ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) unknown-leaves ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) unknown bush ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
Cheryl, that is definitely Rose of Sharon! One of the best, most reliable shrubs for our area. The young branch you snapped off--make a fresh, diagonal cut at the stem end, put it in a pot filled with a 50/50 mix of damp perlite and vermiculite, put a transparent cover over it (2 liter pop bottle, plastic bag) and let it have a bit of air circulation at the bottom. Depending on temperatures and humidity, you should have roots showing in about 4-6 weeks.
I just stuck in a vase with some root hormone mix. Will that be okay for overnight? I never have had luck starting something from a "hard" cutting. But I'll give it a try... again. At least I know what it is now. So if it doesn't root, I can buy one... even though it won't be an "old one" like this. Thanks Jane and everyone else!
