Nuts For Petunias 2010

2 to 3 weeks after germination

Wow! Thank you so much for your reply and sharing your petunia secrets - No wonder you petunias look so healthy. Gulp - fish emulsion? I tried that with my thornless rose and 'she' loved it but I gagged the entire time I was spraying it - my husband was off to the side literally rolling in the grass laughing at me! Guess I'll need to get one of those masks to make sure my petunias are off to a good start! Thanks again - now to get some of the ones you mentioned...!!!

Here's an old picture of my thornless (with the spike fertilizer) probably over kill - last couple years it was so rainy it was all I could do to keep her alive with the black spot infestation - sorry but that's another forum! :)

That is a beautiful rose. LOL, my other fetish/obsession is roses. I use neem oil on my roses and it is a natural preventative of blackspot. Since I have over 90 roses, it's a bit of a job to spray all of them every 2-3 weeks, so I bought a hand pump pressure sprayer which sprays/mists in no time and gives good coverage.

Don't use neem on petunias, or anything with fuzzy leaves for that matter

Super Thrive is good too, but it has an odor almost comparable to fish poo! One drop to a gallon of water.. water at the base of the plants.

Went out plant hunting today and came home and put this container together. The petunias were just labeled "Creme Brulee". The other three flowers are Osteospermum "Sundora Marbella", Salvia "Vista Purple" and Nemesia "Sunsatia Mango". They had many "Bravo Series" Petunias that were very nice....especially "Bravo Salmon Veined".

Jon

Very nice Jon

Nice petunia color. I haven't even started seeding my petunias yet and you are winding down for the "petunia" season

Thanks much. That's true Joanne. It's practically too late to start petunia seeds here. They would start blooming right about the time they normally die back. The selection of petunia and calibrachoa plants available right now is as good as it ever gets. Normally I'll spend 10 minutes walking through the "same ole stuff" at Flamingo Road Nursery. It took me 90 minutes today trying to narrow it down on what to buy.

Nice container Jon! The salvia is beautiful with a couple different shades of purple! Also the mulch is a really nice touch!

Thanks. It was difficult choosing the Salvia because they had six or seven different colors. Last year I started putting some orchid bark around the plants in containers, just to help them retain some moisture and cut back on the need for watering. I liked the look also so have continued to do it with most potted plants.

I do the bark thing too. I buy a big bag of mini nuggets and it doesn't cost that much. The sphagnum moss is too expensive

This message was edited Feb 19, 2010 10:36 PM

We do bark too, but not the dyed stuff. Got most of my beds covered in woodchips

Everyone, down here, is obsessed with red mulch on everything. Its difficult to find non dyed mulches. You really have to look around and ask. Sometimes they'll have a pallet, or two, but its buried somewhere out of sight. I use the orchid bark when I'm putting together potting soil for hibiscus, so I usually have it around.

Nice combination Jon. Love the colors you picked. The petunias are especially striking. I wish I could grow nemesia; it just doesn't hold up well; too hot.

Patty

Thanks Patty. Wanted to try some different unusual color combinations for a change, Nemesia is strictly a winter annual down here. It will die back around the beginning of June. I'm sure you could grow it during the winter Patty.
I put some in this container in December along with Phlox "21st Century Blue Star & Red",a Pansy and "Sorbet Plum Velvet" Violas.

You're probably right about the nemesia doing okay in the winter here, but I'd have to seed it. Have you ever grown it from seed? The only time we see nemesia seedlings here is early spring. I've tried em but they just don't last long enough. They would do better if I could get em in the fall.

No, I've never grown it from seed, but you would have to start it in October....I would think. It's typically not available here until February, but there was some available in December, so I grabbed it. You're right, its not very cost effective to buy something late in the season. I've always wondered why so many of the winter flowers are not available, as plants, until February. It would make more sense to have them ready in November so you could have them for 6-7 months. Perhaps many of them are grown for cooler climate zones and we just happen to get the first plants of the year???

maybe so; I've wondered the same thing myself.

Nemesia is easy from seed. Cool temp germinators so in your area wintersowing them would probably work fine. Takes 12 weeks to flower from germination. Blooms more in cool temps like you have said

LOL. If they need cool temperatures this winter would have worked wonders. It's been running 10-15 degrees below normal for much of the winter. Took this picture today of Petunia "Sophistica Antique". These petunias have been so slow to grow this winter because I have them in morning only sun.

Jon

I bet they'll take off as soon as the temp's warm up. I usually plant my petunias in part shade especially if I want them to last into the summer.

Has anyone seen this new Petunia for 2010?

I just got a new Burpee catalog and they show this one. I got to order me some

Marti

Marti, is that sophistica lime bi-color petunia? If so, I ordered seeds for it.
Dee

The discreption says:

"With large, softly ruffled flowers splashed with rosy pink and creamy-white, this gorgeous petunia lends a cool, alluring presence to pots, plantres and baskets. Blooming luxuriantly from spring unti frost, the bicolor beauties are magical in a border amid purple foliage and grasses, deeep blues and chartreuse flowers. With a monunded growth habil, and 16-20 in tall they exude wold world elegance."

It is a Burpee exclusive for 2010 according to the catalog.

Marti

Burpee lists it as Petunia "Fancy Dress". Makes me wonder if they just renamed a different one???? They list another new one named "Antique Shades". It looks very very very similar to the Italian one named "Spohistica Antique" (picture in my last post). It even has the word "Antique" in the variety name. Hmmm hmmm hmmm.

Well whatever it is I want it. And I'm not a Petunia lover, but that one I like.

Marti

I dont know marti, that one does nothing for me! To irratic in color.. looks like its tie-dyed!

I kinda crave the soft hues and the solid colors.

Jon, that Creme Brulee really is sweet!

I like it--the deep contrasting colors appeals to me.

LOL Blossom. You don't mess around here!!! Straight to the point....don't like it don't like it don't like it. Too funny. Not sure whether I like it or not. Would have to see more blooms clustered together.

Its too bizzy for my lazy eyes! Its that zigzag pattern Jon, .. just too much! I dont like it waving at me!

Maybe back in the 70's I would have liked it!! Im too old for that wild look! Course then thats debatable on some books! LOL!

I like enmasse plantings, but that would defineitely not be my choice!

Gimme solid bricks of color or soft melty pastels. I like blends of color. I do like dar petunias too, but that splashy is too big a bloom for me! LOL!.

I'm a pink fanatic especially that dark pink. Must be why it attracts my attention.

I ordered all three of the sophistica seeds, because I think they are beautiful, but afterwards was reading about them. I was disappointed to learn, that they need to be deadheaded. The waves and supertunias have me spoiled, I guess.
Dee

When it refers to "deadheading a petunia" what does that mean? Is it pulling the dead blooms off or does it mean removing the dead bloom and the stem the bloom was attached to?

I try to not grow any that need deadheading. In the past I would cut the entire flower off with scissors. Very sticky job and you have to clean the scissors while you are doing it.

Oops. I guess I'm not doing it correctly on those Sophistica petunias? I was just pulling out the dead flower and leaving the stems. Apparently I should be cutting the stems also?

When I deadhead any flowers I clip or pinch, behind the flowers, to the first set of leaves. If you just pull the flower out, it could still produce seeds...slowing down blooms.If I would have known before hand that they had to be dead headed, I wouldn't have ordered them, no matter how pretty they are..live and learn, I guess..lol
Dee

Thanks Dee, much better explanation

I knew about deadheading other flowers by cutting the stems down to the next leaves or to a side branch. Didn't know there were petunias that needed deadheading. Maybe that's why these Sophistica Antique ones are growing slow for me. They keep putting out blooms, but the growth is slow.

amorecore,

That could be it, but you had mentioned that you have them is a part sun or shade area. Maybe it's in too much shade. Most petunias are daylight sensitive and often are stingy with new bloom production if the daylight hours are shorted than 12 hours and/or if it is located in a shady area.

It could be too much shade. I do still have some extra ones in containers in the backyard. They're slow growing also even though they're getting almost full day sun. Maybe they just need "a good talking to". LOL It wouldn't be the first time I've talked/complained to some of the plants. I try to make sure no ones around when I do it.