Petunias: At Home in Any Garden
Who can resist petunias? They may be a bit overused, but that doesn’t bother me. I love the versatility and color petunias offer. If you’re a plan-ahead type of person, petunias give you an opportunity to put your color wheel to best advantage. These low-maintenance plants come in nearly every color of the rainbow, from white, yellow, and pale pastels to lime green, bright pinks, reds and every shade of purple; including one so intense it looks almost black.
If you find plain old solid colors a bit of a bore, you can choose multi-colored varieties such as pale pink fringed in deep violet, or candy-cane types with bright red and white stripes. Petunias come in both double and single varieties with blooms of varying sizes, and in upright forms or trailing types perfect for a hanging basket.
Petunias need regular deadheading throughout the season, but this takes only a few minutes a day and gives you a chance to, you know – commune with nature and that sort of thing. If that idea doesn’t appeal to you, self-cleaning varieties are available. One example of a self-cleaning variety is the Wave petunia – tough, disease-resistant plants that are really, really beautiful but a little more expensive.
