What is this purple flower and what is wrong with it?

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by reneec83, Jul 29, 2007.

  1. reneec83

    reneec83 Member

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    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I'm not much of a gardener, but got this at a local store the other day for a dollar because it was half dead. I thought the flowers were really pretty and wanted to try and save it. It's strange that the flowers look so good but the foliage looks so bad. There is some whitish fuzzy looking stuff on some stalks and the leaves look bad to. I keep pulling ones off that are all dried up and some of the stalks are so soft they break off if you touch them..but they still have flowers growing on them. Anyway thanks in advance for your help.
     

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  2. Newt

    Newt Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Maryland USA zone 7
    You have Torenia aka wishbone flower. It's related to snapdragons. These prefer part sun to shade and yours were probably neglected. The white fuzzy stuff was probably mealy bugs. They do come easily from cuttings and you can winter them indoors. Yours may need a new pot or to be planted in well amended soil in the garden. I suspect the variety you have is 'Midnight Blue'. Here's some info on them.
    http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/detail.cfm?photoID=8096&doSearch=1&searchGenus=Torenia&
    http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/gardenflowers/tatz.htm#Torenia
    http://www.denverplants.com/annual/html/toren_swb.htm

    Newt
     
  3. reneec83

    reneec83 Member

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    Thanks...I'll see if I can save it.
     

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