Everything to Know About Petunias

PETUNIA

(Named from petun, the Brazilian title for tobacco, to which Petunia is allied)

Everybody has some room for Petunias as a result of they’re essentially the most profuse flowering of any annual. Few different annuals produce so a lot of such giant flowers. The colours have been improved to such an extent that there are actually varieties to please us all. Just lately almost clear blues have been produced; the deep, wealthy purples and violets are excellent; the sunshine pinks are dainty; the whites are showy; the striped types are incredible; the enormous doubles are marvels of the breeder’s artwork; the frilled types are popular-but why proceed farther) The Petunias are altogether passable. Petunias as cultivated are hybrids between a number of species, therefore the title Petunia hybrida.

Makes use of

Notice that the catalogs listing trailing in addition to bush types. The previous are incomparable for the hanging basket, backyard and window. The extra compact varieties are unexcelled for beds by themselves, or as broad edgings for different plantings. Steep banks which furnish a troublesome mowing downside could also be planted with Petunias.

The author will always remember their use within the “Backyard of the Coronary heart,” in Central Park, New York Metropolis. The rock partitions rise on a number of sides of the backyard and into the chinks of those rocks Dr. Southwick had sown Petunia seed; the ensuing crops have continued to self-sow there yr after yr. The flowers are small and the colours not particularly good, however as an entire, the impact is worthy of admiration.

GENERAL

Seeds of Petunias could also be sown in a sunny window or hotbed in March, or within the open soil in Might. The crops ought to at all times stand 9 inches aside. Because the seeds are very effective, nice care is critical in sowing and in resisting the temptation to permit extra crops to develop than will develop correctly. Somebody has stated that the way in which to get the very best single Petunias is to sow the very best doubles as a result of the seeds of the latter don’t produce all double flowers. The slowest and smallest seedlings are extra apt to be doubled than those who germinate quickly and develop rapidly. The higher types of Petunia seeds will incessantly value greater than the peculiar and inferior strains, however they’re definitely worth the distinction.

Petunias desire full daylight however will bloom in partial shade. They are going to thrive in reasonably dry soil if that is nicely enriched, and likewise upon soil both too wealthy or too poor for many annuals if the moisture situations are proper. Thus one might even see that the Petunia is the most adaptable.