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Garden, Plants

The all-purpose annual that carries the garden

July 22, 2022

easy wave petunias

Thank you to Wave Petunias for partnering with me on this post. 

I’m often asked a question that is perplexing to me: “Do you grow annuals or perennials?”

I don’t fault the people asking the question as I think there are some people who grow one or the other, and perhaps that was more typical in the past. But the best parts of my garden rely on the combination of annuals and perennials, not to mention, shrubs, trees, bulbs and even vegetables. 

Annuals, with their season-long color and seemingly endless array of colors, are perfect for tucking around the garden to fill in a gap until another plant fills in or just generally brighten things up. And perhaps the best all-purpose annual is the petunia.

This year I have Easy Wave Petunias in containers as well as in the ground where they bring a much needed splash of color as other plants (ahem, dahlias) take their time getting around to blooming. Easy Wave Petunias bulk up quickly (in fact I mostly bought 2-inch plants sold in six-packs) and have a nice mounded habit that works well in containers but also fills those pesky holes in the landscape.

Easy Wave Petunias come in oodles of colors and I was feeling a strong monochromatic vibe this year. For one container I combined Lavender Sky Blue and Blue (which reads purple to me) with purple sage for a dark, textural vibe. 

I used those same colors in a nearby bed right off the patio, bringing color to an area with dahlias and alliums, including the seedheads of Allium christophii.

In the circle garden, where I like to mass plant in segments, I mixed together all the different pink Easy Wave Petunia colors I could find, from Rose Fusion to Plum Vein. A few surprises snuck in there, including a couple of reds and one white, but the overall look is pretty interesting, especially since different colors have slightly different sized flowers.

A mass planting of a variety of pink tones is brightening up a corner of the circle garden and the red stems of the nearby rhubarb help complete the look.

Easy Wave Rose Fusion has beautiful dark pink veining that looks perfect with a setting sun to highlight its best attributes.

All of these are really just getting going. Easy Wave Petunias get about 6 to 12 inches high and can grow to more than 30 inches wide, so these will keep bulking up all summer.

Here’s what that all-blue container looked like shortly after planting. If you look at that photos above you can see how much it has filled in already.

GROWING TIPS

Like all heavy-blooming annuals, Easy Wave petunias appreciate regular fertilizing. I fertilize my containers with a synthetic water-soluble fertilizer every week to 10 days starting in July. I like to keep things organic for my in-ground beds so I usually use a seaweed or fish fertilizer every couple weeks on those plants.

Petunias are also one of those plants that appreciates the occasional trim, so as soon as mine start getting a little leggy, I will cut them back by half (or even more sometimes). 

Budworm can be an issue on petunias. I’ve only dealt with them once in my life, so I don’t do anything more than keep an eye on them when I’m watering, like I do with all my plants. An organic spray with BT can be used to control budworm.

Petunias will do best in full sun, but you can push them into part sun without a problem.

Petunias are a classic annual, perhaps the classic annual that have been popping up in and around my garden for years. 

Last year I used Easy Wave Lavender Sky Blue in the window box where it put up with a lot of pushy neighbors and provided that gorgeous color all season.

Easy Wave Petunias seem to nail that happy in between place of filling in well and holding up to other perennials in mixed containers and the ground without outcompeting its neighbors. It’s pretty much a perfect partner.

annuals container gardening easy wave flowers petunia wave petunias
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
11 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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Comments

  1. Teri Bergman says: July 22, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    Erin, do you think that the Wave
    Petunia grows as well as the PW Vista’s?

    Reply
    • Vivian says: September 9, 2022 at 5:31 pm

      I second the question.

      Reply
  2. Carol says: July 22, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    In the third photo with the Allium christophii and the blue petunias what is the plant with the little red and yellow flower? A dahlia? Love it.

    Reply
  3. Jeri B says: July 22, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    Great article as always!!

    Reply
  4. Payton says: July 22, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    I also use a lot of petunias in my garden. As they are so very easy to start from seed under lights, that means more money in the budget for other plants later in the season. I have found the Wave petunias larger bloom size to fit in better in certain areas, than PW Supertunias. Therefore, I use both in different ways.
    P.S. Please make sure to do another “what went right” video this year, as they are very helpful to watch, and I usually learn of a new plant to try from your gardening tips. (Thanks to your suggestions,, I now grow: Purple Hyacinth Bean vine, green nicotiana, thalictrum, and wild ginger.)

    Reply
  5. Maureen says: July 22, 2022 at 11:11 pm

    Wonderful article. I love the fragrance of petunias, it reminds me of my grandmother’s garden. Love your color choices and would like to pin this article. How can I pin it?

    Reply
  6. Heather says: July 24, 2022 at 9:33 pm

    I have zero annuals in my garden this year and boy do I miss them! I’ll have to keep these in mind for next year. Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Vivian says: September 9, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    I dig up a few of each of my petunias and winter them over inside. Take clipping in the late winter, use rooting hormone powder, and have started my own this year. From about five plants I wintered over to at least 25 in my garden. Didn’t have to buy not even one.

    Reply
    • Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says: September 9, 2022 at 9:57 pm

      Good for you! That’s great and it’s wonderful to hear you’ve had such success.

      Reply
  8. Katherine says: December 13, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    I live in an climate that is hot and dry during the summer. All of our plants are on a drip system. I sank 3 gallon pots in the soil so that the top of the pot is only 1 to 2 inches above the soil, and placed a tube from our drip system in the pot, and placed mulch around the perimeter so the pot won’t show. Every year I plant 3 small wave petunias in the pots, fertilize with long acting fertilizer, cut back leggy stems by half, and enjoy profuse blooms all summer.

    Reply
  9. Margaret Greene says: January 5, 2023 at 3:39 am

    Wonderful article. I love the fragrance of petunias

    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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E R I N 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I had a rather unpleasant realization last night w I had a rather unpleasant realization last night when I remembered that I’d not yet ordered tomato seeds. And I’m not going to rectify that until I dig into my seed stash, because I don’t go through tomato seeds quickly so there are definitely some lurking down there. 

I never used to grow tomatoes from seed because there are great varieties to be had in garden centers (including many heirloom varieties). But it’s almost non-negotiable for me now that I’m a convert to dwarf tomatoes. If you’re not familiar with the #dwarftomatoproject championed by @nctomatoman and others, these are heirloom varieties that are crossed with dwarf varieties to create plant that produces all the flavor and interest of an heirloom in a short (usually less than 4 feet) plant. 

They are particularly great in my tall raised beds. Of course I leave room to try new non-dwarf varieties every year (I loved Sun Dipper from @panamseed last year and I’ll grow it again).

Last year was a good tomato year and the photo shows some of the varieties I harvested in one day. I hope this summer will be equally good for the tomato harvest. 

One of my favorite questions to ask gardeners is: What is your favorite tomato variety to grow? So have at it in the comments because inquiring minds want to know!
And this is why I leave my winter containers assem And this is why I leave my winter containers assembled until at least March. A dusting of snow gives them a whole new look (even if it’s shades of gray). Also, I think I love my Limelight hydrangea even more in winter. Fabulous winter interest!
I’m going to look for opportunities to add more I’m going to look for opportunities to add more ferns to my garden this year. They are such interesting plants and often real problem solvers, bringing texture and color to places that many plants aren’t interested in. Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ grows well for me in part shade (even pushing a bit into part sun) and looks great next to Persicaria ‘Golden Arrow’.
Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled o Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled on) foliage, and texture galore. I can’t wait to have moments like this again. The star, by the way is Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’ which looks so good with the bold foliage of Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’ next to it. 

With the new path, this area will be getting a small revamp. It’s the next spot I’ll be focusing my planning on.
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