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Garden, Plants

Not a fan of petunias? Some new varieties might win you over

May 11, 2018

Sakata Supercal new premium petunias

How do you feel about petunias?

My guess is that you feel very strongly about them; you probably either love them or hate them. 

I had no idea a flower could elicit such strong feeling in such vastly different directions, but I’ve recently become away that petunias are controversial. If you love them you see a plant that provides loads of color all summer long and comes in just about every color under the sun. If you loath them, they are floppy, sticky, messy, unimaginative plants. And apparently petunias have a scent, that some loathers love and some lovers hate, but I never even noticed it.

For better or worse, I fall in the lover category. For my money few plants can provide the color punch of a petunia, particularly a vigorous variety that fills a container and spills over the edges.

And I’m not alone by a long shot. I don’t know what the most commonly sold annual in the United States is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was petunias. There’s a reason why plant breeders continue to work to make them better—hence the self-shedding varieties that don’t require deadheading—and more colorful than ever. New varieties are being bred to not flop when it rains, hold their color longer, have more flowers and do the dishes. (The last one may be a ways off.)

I saw 5 million petunias during California Spring Trials, where plant breeders show off their latest introductions in hopes that growers, brokers and retailers will want to carry them. Most won’t make the cut, but some will. Petunias now have stripes, spots, hearts and more. Here are just a few, but keep in mind that many of these varieties won’t be available in garden centers until 2019 and some might never make it there.

Surfina Heartbeat

Can you see the hearts? This is Surfina Heartbeat from Suntory.

Potunia Cappucino

Some petunias are a more sophisticated palette, including this Potunia Cappuncino from Dummen Orange. This would be wonderful paired with purple foliage.

Evening Scentsation

Evening Scentsation is an All-American Selections winner from Takii Seeds with a light, pleasant scent. I just love the flower color.

Yellow petunia from Dummen Orange

Dummen Orange shows this clear, clean yellow petunia in a combination basket.

Selecta One Headliner Rose Star

On the opposite end of this spectrum is a more moody but very interesting color combination on Selecta One‘s Headline Rose Star.

Dark petunia

I believe this striking petunia is Sweetunia Johnny Flame from Dummen Orange.

Dark purple blue petunia

The color of this blue-purple petunia from Dummen Orange was outstanding.

Syngenta Dekko Coral Star

Star patterns were popular including this Dekko Coral Star from Syngenta, which packed a huge color punch.

Hemgenics low petunia

These are Disneyworld colors. This low-growing mounding petunia from Hemgenics is designed for mass bedding displays. In the background you can see Hemgenics’ Picotee line of petunias in bright colors with white edges, which are huge sellers at Wal-Mart.

Selecta One Headliner Starry Sky Burgundy

Dotted petunias hit the market last year and were very popular. Breeders are working on make them more stable and offering them in different colors, including this Headline Starry Sky Burgundy from Selecta One.

Constellation Gemini petunia

Westoff showed this Constellation Gemini petunia.

PW truffula pink gomphrena supertunia honey superbells pink

If you love candy colors, this combination from Proven Winners might be up your alley. This is Supertunia Honey (a favorite of mine), Superbells Pink and a new gomphrena called Truffula Pink.

Proven Winners Blue Skies petunia

Proven Winners also showed this interesting petunia called Supertunia Blue Skies.

Proven Winners Supertunia vista bubble gum, silverberry, fuschia

None of these Supertunias from Proven Winners are new, and neither is this combination, but it’s a good one: Supertunia Vistas Bubblegum, Silverberry and Fuschia. The Vista line is vigorous, so if you’re looking for a petunia that will get big, this is a good one.

Petunia wall

Kudos to Proven Winners on a fabulous display that featured this petunia wall made from wood crates.

Sakata Supercal new premium petunias

Sakata’s new additions to their SuperCal line (which are a combination of a petunia and a calibrachoa) were outstanding and a nice addition to the color range for petunias. From right to left they are Cinnamon, Caramel Yellow, French Vanilla, Bordeaux and Sunray.

Sakata Sunray

Sunray is fabulous with its detailed center. This is one to plant close where you can appreciate it.

I saw so many petunias, but I think this may have been my favorite. This is Westoff’s Crazytunia Limy. It’s hard to show in a photo, but it is a true chartreuse, a color I can’t get enough of in the garden and plays so well with almost every other color.

Crazytunia

I don’t generally love star petunias, but this one was a great partner to Limy.

Climbing petunia

Want something different? How about a climbing petunia? You read that right. These tall petunias, which require support, can reach nearly 6 feet in a season! These, including ‘Purple Tower’, are from Thompson & Morgan.

Benary petunia container.

And let’s not forget that even if you like the more typical colors, petunias are almost no-brainers in containers, like in this one from Benary.

So, what do you think? Did any of these new varieties change your mind? Any you’d love to try?

 

CAST petunia Proven Winners
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
7 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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Comments

  1. Linda from Each Little World says: May 11, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    Sunray reminds me of a Salpiglossis which I always thought were kind of cool, though I have never been a big Petunia fan. Love the Cappuccino and that incredibly dark red one. And if they can do the dishes, they will become my top favorite plant!

    Reply
    • Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says: May 11, 2018 at 5:15 pm

      Oh mine too! When they learn to weed for me I’ll give them a gold medal.

      Reply
  2. Shannon C says: May 11, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    I love petunias, they provide so much color and are easy for not-great gardeners like me to grow. My sister on the other hand hates petunias with a fiery passion. My uncle owns a nursery, and she and I both worked there in the summer during high school/college. I got to stay inside in the air conditioning doing accounts payable, while she had to work on the floor where her primary responsibility was deadheading petunias (along with watering, etc.). Ever since, she refuses to even consider them. Of course now, many years and dark offices later, I’d much rather spend the summer pinching petunias than doing bookwork, but I guess that’s the way things go! In any case, I always send her pictures of petunias whenever I encounter them, just to antagonize her, because between sisters some things never change 🙂 Thanks for sharing all the wonderful new varieties, I especially love the pink speckly ones and the dark purple magenta ones that look almost like velvet.

    Reply
    • Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says: May 11, 2018 at 5:14 pm

      I guess that’s called petunia PTSD. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kathy says: May 12, 2018 at 7:06 am

    I finally decided to eliminate Petunias even the new improved varieties from my plantings.Unless you have a gardening crew to feed them ,water and pinch them back all those beautiful Mother’s Day hanging baskets will soon start to look poorly as soon as the hot dry summer weather we have here in the southeast.arrives. As I try to do more low maintenance gardening I have eliminated all hanging baskets other than large ferns on the porch. I will just enjoy looking at other homes who have the energy and time to give them the attention they thrive on.

    Reply
    • Phyllis Paul says: February 10, 2023 at 12:44 pm

      What is the tall pink flowers in the last pot in your story?
      Thank you 😊💓

      Reply
  4. Hilary Shughart says: May 12, 2018 at 7:24 am

    The problem with petunia hybrids is that they do not provide well for pollinators – they lack the nectar reward. They may attract hummingbirds and bees, but they don’t provide adequate sustenance. Even red plastic will attract hummingbirds, but it provides no ecosystem services:
    http://living.thebump.com/petunias-attract-bees-13125.html

    “An issue of concern is whether or not cultivars, which are generally selected for horticultural benefits (larger flowers, different color), are as attractive to pollinators as are the species. In this work there were 14 direct comparisons and about 50% of the time the species was better than the cultivar (Table 3). ” http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/resources-and-outreach/bees-bugs-blooms-2013-a-pollinator-trial

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I fell in love with gardening through container de I fell in love with gardening through container design and it’s probably still my favorite type of gardening. My trip to Philadelphia area gardens was full of so many excellent ideas. For several years I’ve been enamored with clustered pots, but in my opinion they work best when they are able to stand alone in a space. And you probably know me well enough by now to know that as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the pot, the better. Feast your eyes on these beauties and use your zooming fingers to really get into those nooks and crannies. 

Don’t forget to save your favorites because you know you’re going to be looking for them come next spring. 😀

Photos 1 & 2: Amazing container cluster at @longwoodgardens  that works particularly well because of the restraint used in the design. Also how many different ways is the universe going to tell me I need to grow agave before I actually listen?

Photo 3: This was probably favorite display I saw the whole time and of course it’s from the masters at @chanticleergarden This is a master class in texture. It’s also probably not attainable for the average home gardener because it relies heavily on tropicals that need proper overwintering in order to reach a good size. But there’s no reason why I (or you) couldn’t use this as inspiration to create a similar feel with other plants. 

Photo 4: Strappy foliage, bright orange and colorful pots create such a good doorway collection at @chanticleergarden 

Photo 5, 6 & 7: Similar colors were used at a patio doorway at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm home garden. A pot is perfectly framed by an arbor off a side patio. The front entrance has a pink theme (and an amazing feature pot that I couldn’t show here because all my shots are vertical). 

Photo 8: Back to @chanticleergarden where I could have studied this container planting for an hour just to soak up all the detail. 

Photo 9: And while I love a pot with a lot going on, never underestimate the power of a simply planted, gorgeous pot, like this one at @abunting64 garden Belvidere. 

#gbfling2023
I think every garden probably needs a little bit o I think every garden probably needs a little bit of water, even if it’s just a bird bath. All of the fabulous gardens I saw recently in the Philadelphia area incorporated water into them. Here are just a few examples of how lovely these water features were. 

@paxsonhillfarm @northviewgarden @brandywinecottage @longwoodgardens #gbfling2023
Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the vi Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the view even though we all know that most of us rarely take the opportunity to use them. The seating I saw in gardens in the Philadelphia area reflected their gardens and all were special. 

Make sure to share your favorite!

Photo 1:  I adored these perfectly lichen-covered chairs at @brandywinecottage

Photo 2: Great lichen game on this bench at Wayne Guymon’s mind-blowing garden WynEden. 

Photo 3: Perhaps my favorite seating moment of the whole trip was this chair in @jennyrosecarey @northviewgarden . Not only was it perfectly lichen covered (are you sensing a theme here?) but a volunteer cleome was growing right up through the middle of it. Unfortunately this photo of it isn’t grata because by this point in the trip my phone (I didn’t want to use my DSLR in the middle of the tropical storm so I switched to my phone) was getting very grumpy about the rain. 

Photo 4: I’d be happy to hang out on these chairs in @abunting64 ‘s gorgeous garden Belvidere. I loved this space. 

Photo 5: Color was the name of the game on this patio at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm. 

Photo 6: The most original table and benches I saw were at @abunting64 garden. This was a portion of the garden that was actually on the neighbors’ property adjacent to Andrew’s. It had been a vegetable garden but is getting a bit too shady so it will soon have a new life. 

Photo 7: We visited Barbara Tiffany’s Mill Fleurs in a deluge, which is a shame, and dotted throughout the property are examples of her husband Tiff’s amazing furniture. This was, called the Centipede was upholstered and quite different from the others. All were amazing works of art. 

Photos 8 and 9: The @scott_arboretum at @swarthmorecollege had some excellent seating, from brand new @deebenarc chairs to more lichen-covered charmers.

#gbfling2023
*** I can already see that some people do not unde *** I can already see that some people do not understand humor so let me just say this: 1. I was fully aware of the escaped convict situation (I’m an avid follower of the news, which is common for us journalists). 2. It’s ok to laugh about the fact that I’ve missed the Longwood meadow twice through weird circumstances while being a rational adult and realizing that I’m not making light of the situation that led to the meadow being mown. ***

I missed seeing @longwoodgardens beautiful meadow the first time I visited so I was excited to see it the second time. Not so fast! Turns out it had to be mown down during the search for an escaped convict who was hiding out there (at least that’s what I was told was the reason for the mowing). He’ll never see goldenrod the same way again! 😀

That whole situation was really unfortunate for @longwoodgardens (not to mention everyone who lives in the area), which had to be closed for about a week while the hunt was on!
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