Torenia, Wishbone Flower, Bluewings

I'm a gardener by trade and I use this plant for many of my clients. I use it in part shade to full shade situations and in container ga...Read Morerdens. I have noticed they don't care to be smothered by other plants in a container but they thrive when it's just them alone in a pot. In the ground they're spectacular and make a great annual groundcover.

aka as wishbone plant - wishbone visible in bloom.
Good plant for container culture as well as hanging basket. Good in bright shade.

I picked up two beautiful Wishbone plants at the Lowes in Cedar Park. They were in full bloom and looked wonderful. The hang tags said ...Read Morethey liked moderate moisture and partial sun. I hung them under the eaves on my front porch which gets some sun and watered and misted them daily. For the first few weeks they seemed to do fine and then suddenly started to die. I hadn't done anything differently, but they would start to dry up. I checked the soil with a moisture meter and in different spots the readings were different. I replanted in larger planters made from heavy moss and added some Soil Moist. They're dying. I don't know why. They appear to be drying out despite the soil being moist and rich. I love these plants but I'm hesitant to get more. It's been consistently in the high 90's to low 100's here. What went wrong? I mostly grow passiflora but I am aware of the needs of all plants I have and have good success with all of them. Even the picky ones. This one's supposed to be easy. Thanks for any help.
Lisa

I am concerned.

I had a friend purchase this basket for me yesterday on the 28th. When I picked up the plant it was a l...Read Moreittle wilted as she had left it in the sun sitting on the entry way. However, she did water the plant.

By this am it had perked up. I moved the plant placing it in a a shady area but that could have gotten some afternoon sun but not alot.

When I got home this evening around 10pm it had wilted completely.

I am confused as to what the needs of this plant is. Everything I read tells of how great this plant is with some wonderful blooms, etc.

Help!!!!!! I did water it once I got home.

Krissi

I love this plant! I have grown this in pots on my morning sun porch and in an almost completely shade garden on the side of my house. It...Read More did beautifully in both locations. I live in an old-growth neighborhood with old trees that tend to introduce diseases and bugs to plants, the plants will be fine one day and suddenly die the next, torenia has managed to withstand all of this while still thriving an looking beautiful.

My first encounter with this plant was when a volunteer sprout appeared in my vegetable garden, probably from a bird that had paused on a...Read More garden stake. I almost pulled it up as a weed. But the leaf looked like mint, and I decided to let it grow a while. With such a neat and compact form, I allowed it continue for a few weeks. Then it blossomed and I was captivated by the unusual, small, blue and white flowers. I began contacting universities by email trying to get an identification of it. One Merel Black at the University of Wisconsin herbarium responded with the name: Torenia fournieri. I read that it could be a successful houseplant. So as the growing season came to an end that year, I prepared a larger pot and wrought iron stand and then took the plant up with a full root ball and transplanted it indoors. It promptly died. And I had begun to learn about Torenia's sensitivity to disturbance. Even in starting new plants, it will not normally survive transplanting. You have to start it in a peat pellet and move the entire item to the growing location. It loves hot weather, as long as you keep it from drying out. It is difficult to start when temperatures are cooler as under a grow light in late winter. I have found very acceptable pelleted seed from neseed and swallowtailgardenseeds.
Cibarius

Since the seeds of this plant are so teeny tiny, I just bring mine inside until spring.

These plants are great for cut f...Read Morelower arrangements - lasts for weeks because the unopened buds bloom. Also can be rooted in water.

This is my number one 'go-to' container plant for summer --- have used it in one color by itself (two little 4" nursery pots will quickly...Read More fill in a moderate sized container) and as an edge/underplanting to boxwoods in urns. Love it in white with a yellow center. Needs partial shade in my 7b/8a zone and requires consistent watering, but other than that, it is a carefree annual for me. Try it - you'll like it.

I had big pots of these on my back deck in Raleigh, NC, (27605) for years. They were in deep shade all day until late afternoon, when the...Read Morey were hit with blistering summer sun. They thrived nevertheless; two rows of pots on the railings plus a hanging basket gave me a magnificent curtain of green and purple to shield me from the neighbors.

This plant grows profusely in a pot on my covered patio and is covered with the purple flowers all summer. It gets some morning sun but i...Read Mores mostly in shade all afternoon and evening.
I put it with spearmint, sitting next to my swing so I get the wonderful scent of mint, and they are very happy together.

Oddly enough, I have been pulling these "weeds" out of my beds, but after 10 weeks of going to work and school, my beds got out of contro...Read Morel. When I finally had a chance to pull weeds yesterday, I realized that several of my "weeds" were covered in gorgeous purple and white flowers! I NEVER planted these, so they have to be volunteers. They are growing in a north facing bed (getting full sun) on the side of my house and they are quite healthy. I didn't plant them there and didn't really want them (until yesterday I didn't even know what they were) but I definitely won't pull them out now and will be keeping the seed pods!

I found this plant at a local K-Mart store with no directions on how to grow it. I thought it was so beautiful that I'd take a chance on...Read More it. I was lucky. I planted it in a mostly shaded area in good soil under mulch. It's grown beautifully.

I went to a local plant store to look for more, but only found a variety called "Clown Rose." It claims to be Torenia (Wishbone Flower) and looks identical to the blue variety only it is a deep pink color with a white throat and a bright yellow dot. I bought one and I'll have to let you know if it does as well as the blue.

This plant has self-sown over winter in the cracks between the flagstones of our patio. Was very surprised to see it, but perhaps such a...Read More tender plant did this because the patio is a very toasty microclimate that faces south, is shielded from winter winds, and is buttressed from the hill behind it by stone that moderates temperature swings.

I've planted this in our sandy soil and in a container with potting soil... whether because of the richer soil or wetter soil, it definit...Read Moreely prefers the container.

In the ground it was a moderate performer -- perfectly lovely, but required a lot of supplemental waterings. In the container, it has really taken off, has grown much larger and requires much less supplemental watering.

In the ground, there was a lot of wilting under the afternoon sun, but In the container, it gets no morning sun and bears the brunt of full afternoon sun without a single complaint.

And it's ALWAYS full of blooms. Possibly my favorite container plant.

LOVE THIS PLANT! Viewed as an annual in SE Georgia but it thrived in the greenhouse this past winter. Plant just one and before you know...Read More it they are coming up all over the yard. I have never seen anything like it. Each and every flower has a wishbone looking filament inside, hence the name.

I have grown this plant a couple of times. I bought it from a nursery. They are cute little plants and did quite well.

These adorable little plants with their unusual little flowers are a wonderful change from Impatiens for a semi-shady location.
...Read Morer /> I started some from seed indoors one year, & if you plan to ever try it, be forewarned to start them EARLY. Seeds & seedlings are TINY & required time & pampering before reaching a decent planting-out size.

I planted mine out as a border in front of an herb/flower bed in front of my chicken coop run. This area was in full shade during the morning hours, turning to dappled shade in early afternoon, & full sun for just a couple of hours later (3-4-o'clock on). Bedding soil was heavily mixed with composted rabbit manure, & I used a cocoa bean mulch over all. The plants bushed out & bloomed nicely up until the first hard frost.

These are nice looking annuals. The first time I tried them, they didn't perform as well as I'd hoped. I planted them in a shady, northe...Read Morern exposure that gets some reflected light from nearby buildings. While impatiens did quite nicely in the same spot, these didn't grow much bigger than 4 inch mounds. They got plenty of moisture, but the climate might have been too cool for them.

I also tried them in a container, where they also looked puny. Frustrated, I pulled them out and planted them in the ground, not caring if they survived. Surprisingly, they thrived and flowered into the fall. I think it was because they were against concrete steps, which absorbed heat and kept the plant warm.

I've since tried the trailing varieties with much greater success.

so delicate looking, very attractive,

I had these plants in my flower bed with shrubbery and such. I had never seen them before and I was really happy with them. They were in...Read More constant bloom and everyone loved them. They grew well with morning sun evening shade, not a lot of caretaking to them. I am planting them again this year,

San Antonio, Tx.)
I plant these just about every year and they have always been great performers once I learned that in my zone t...Read Morehey can tolerant the sun in early spring, but must be in partial shade or full shade in the heat of the summer. They like to be mulched which keeps the soil moist and cool. Due to their small bloom size, they look best in groupings of the same color. Pinch back to promote bushiness and bloom production.

'Summer Wave' torenia can tolorate the sun and heat better than the typical torenia. In addition, they are also hardy to 28 degrees. 'Summer Wave' is a cross between the creeping native species and the typical torenia. It is a fast-grower like the other torenias producing bicolor light and dark blue blooms.

I love these plants with their small delicate blooms and give them a double thumbs up.

I have this plant grown spontaneously in a pot here in Rio de Janeiro. Probably the seed came along with the earth, and the earth must ha...Read Moreve came from the south, where it´s cold and this plant grows easily. I was surprised when I saw the flower and noticed that this plant just doesn´t grow here... but it bloomed and produced seeds, but they didn´t germinated.

For best effect plant these thickly in containers one colour to the pot. Planted in a hanging basket in part shade they are very attract...Read Moreive and easy to grow.

Also known as Bluewings. Good for containers, window boxes, hanging baskets. Erect, bushy annual with toothed leaves and tiny blue-purple...Read More blossoms with yellow or white throats that resemble trumpets; blooms from summer to the first frost. Needs rich, very moist, well-drained soil and is ideal for a cool greenhouse; plant in shade in hot regions. Pinch shoots of young plants to encourage bushiness. In frost-free areas, plant year-round