Wild petunia no longer blooming?

Question

I purchased a native wild petunia plant from our Audubon center and flowers bloomed throughout the summer. Now it looks like there are these “seed like” tiny bulbs on the ends of the leaves. Are these seeds and can they be harvested? Thank you

Answer 1

Yes they are and yes you can. In fact, if you leave them, they will reseed themselves and you will have plenty of new plants next year, some a bit of a distance from the plant.

I grew wild petunia at my previous home and always had new plants, some even appeared in the front yard, though the orignial plants were in back yard. A strange thing, they always landed in existing flower beds, not in the lawn. How thoughtful!

GKH has an article about wild petunia, the Mexican variety that grows tall, but I believe you are talking about the low growing native to the U.S., Ruellia humilis, which is what I grew.

https://www.fandm.edu/center-for-the-sustainable-environment/native-pollinators/a-guide-to-native-pollinators/native-pollinator-garden-guide/wild-petunia-ruellia-humilis