I SPY, YOU SPY Petunias 2011

Anyone see or get any of the new petunias? Or even good old ones? PLEASE POST YOUR FAVORITES!

I am already off and running. I am so excited!

Let me start with a new Portunia for this year.

SOUNDS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Portunia® Series of petunias feature vigorous plants which are rounded, compact, well branched and covered with an abundance of blooms. The single funnel-shaped flowers are available in red, pink, neon (hot pink), deep purple deep red and lobster (a unique blend of vibrant pink and orange). They continue through the dog days of summer, long after many other petunias have flagged in the heat. This petunia is an excellent selection for baskets, planters and the landscape." http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/petunia-potunia-series/


Petunia Portunia Papaya. It is so ORANGE! And covered in blooms but.......................... as the blooms age they get whiter and then not so great.

This message was edited Apr 21, 2011 5:35 PM

Here is one that I spied from across HD! Just beautiful esp in the sun! New 2011 Petunia Surprise Starburst


I have a few more that I will post later.

I might as well post the 3 new black ones! I got these last summer but I do believe officially they are out this year. I see they are all over here now in the nurseries in 4 inch pots for $4.99 with hanging pots of them for $29.00. A bit steep.

Petunia X hybrida 'Black Velvet' which is a deep dark purple in the sunlight but very black in the shade.

Petunia X hybrida 'Pinstripe' has a pink stripe when first opens then it fades a bit. The back is yellowish!

Petunia X hybrida 'Pinstripe' first opens with a PINK stripe.

Gee, I had forgotten I even started this thread, people are so quiet over here. No one nuts for petunias this year?

Well I am hot on their trail. Have you seen the new Superbells Punch Calibrachoa series? I have found all 3. I first saw Superbells Coralberry Punch Calibrachoa a few months ago after chatting with another Daver about them over their pictures online. We were all a gaga over them. Then I saw 1 in person and was so disappointed. The flowers were so small and too dark to even notice unless up close and personal. But......................... since I have found 3 colors and love them all.


This one is Superbells Coralberry Punch Calibrachoa

Here is the 3rd new "black" petunia. Petunia Phantom. It has more pinkish stripes as it opens and they fade to more yellow. Same velvety look.

Gorgeous flowers! I will look for some if the monsoons here ever stop. April showers here drown May flowers. :(

You remind me KyWoods, that I am early here with annuals for all you guys in colder areas. I forgot! Our nurseries are overflowing with spring largesse. I just love it so much to see all the new hybrids. I tried so hard this year to go to the spring trials here in March in California. I thought I had an in but it fizzled. I need to work on another for next year.

I hope others come across new ones to post. I so miss Target nurseries now for last year they had a lot of the new petunias and for great prices too!

Here is another of the new Superbell Punch series, Superbells® Blackberry Punch. Dark but such fun.

Ooo, pretty! You're making me miss living there! I only spent about five years in northern CA, but loved it. First I lived in Sunnyvale, then Carmichael, then Citrus Heights. Sigh...

A little early for us since are weather is cold and this has been the latest spring ever. Not many nights above freezing and snow in the forecast. Love your photos. I plan to grow the potunias for sure this year.

Hope the weather changes and we actually get into spring mode. Other years I have crocus & daffodils blooming in March, this year, the flower bud have just formed now. :(

Kell, Thank you for the pictures. I havent seen any of yours here. I did get a pink double begonia to die for tho.This is a (large abt 2") bloom. It looks a little like a rose.
Vickie

Loving the superbels in the two tones, We have had a serious love for the supertunia bubble gum pink, the baskets we are getting at work have been like 3ft across...Absolutely huge. Another big hit is the Pretty Much Picasso, and the Rasberry Blast...
I am a bedding petunia lover my self and love the Dolcessima and the Fragilino they hold up in the heat and humidity very well and mix with loads of colors.
I would like to see the black in a basket all the growers here seem to be selling it just in 4 inch cups.

The Black Velvet petunia isn't a trailing petunia, so you may not see it in many hanging baskets. Probably best suited in a planter. It has a more upright growth habit. Height 8-12", Spread 8-12". Phantom & Pinstripe have a bit more of a mounded look but are also about the same height & spread. In comparison to the spreading varieties, 1 foot isn't much. A lot of the Suncatcher, Supertunias and Waves spread 2.5 to 4 feet. The Black petunias are from Ball Hort.
www.ballhort.com

I sure hope you get a great spring SOON, Joanna. Your spectacular baskets need to get started!

Here they do have the black Pinstripe in big baskets and though full are not hanging yet if ever I guess. They want $29 for them! STEEP!

Yesterday I found the Phantom in 4 inch pots for $2.99! YEA! I have only seen them for $4.99 in most nurseries. Though woe is me, I have 2 cheap nurseries. Target was one, closed last year. And now the best cheap nursery always with the new plants for cheap, is closing in a few weeks. It was a Longs Drugstore and and they had a HUGE garden center. Then CVS bought them out and now Safeway is kicking them out for the space for a Safeway Superstore. I am so sad.

Oh Buffyl I have the same love list as you except for Bubblegum Vista. That one never did well for me for some reason. However, Supertunia Raspberry Blast is a star! Especially now. I have a huge one in full bloom already having survived over winter. It was all dried out sticks that came to life. I will have to take a photo of it. Only problem was I was going to put new soil that retained water better in all my baskets but no way will I now. I t is on a stand that is about 7 feet high.

I also bought 2 hanging baskets of the great relatively new! Was it last year they were available or was it 2 years ago? They have jewel colors. I will take their pic later today. I have to buy them every time I see them.

Here are others I have this year. Supercal Neon Rose and SuperCal Terra Cotta.

Kell
Thanks for the inspiration, sadly I too am in joannabanana's zone. My snowdrops are just forming buds to flower and so........ we wait!
Alberta Ann

I'm not usually much of a petunia grower, but 'Pinstripe' suckered me in this year. If I had more space I'd try the other "black" ones as well...neat!

I just planted Antique Shades. They stopped me in my tracks at the garden center. I had not planned on planting any lowly petunias this year in my container garden pots because I'm trying to plant all perennials so I won't have to do so much garden work next year. But when I saw these I totally had to have them. If necessary I would buy a pot just for them. They are absolutely gorgeous. I just planted them in one of my pots right along with new perennials, so they're a little wilted right now. But this one taken when I first got them shows the beautiful bloom. Edited to say: Each bloom is a different shade of yellow and pink, some more pastel, some more saturated.

This message was edited May 7, 2011 1:03 PM

Ah good, I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one suckered into petunia impulse buys this year ;-). That's certainly a beauty, revclaus.

That is really pretty! I always like seeing the new color combinations. Now if the monsoons would ever let up here, I could plant some...

I hope spring gets to you soon Alberta Ann! Here we are feeling like summer some days.

SunnyG, I get suckered in every year. Petunias are such color hogs. I just love them so much. You do not have room for some pots of them?

Oh revclaus., stab me in m y heart, "lowly petunias", crush me! LOL. For your buck, I think petunias give more color and pizzazz then any other flower! I do love your Antique Shades. I have not seen that one yet. I know there is a viola with that name that I just love!

Oh you too, KyWoods having bad weather! We should get no more rain now till October. Just sun!

Oh I just love seeing all the new ones out! It is my thrill, I know I have a boring life. I found this little tiny one at Lowes. They are selling packs of 3 color coordinated plants, 1 petunia, 1 other like a matching verbena and 1 calibrachoa in 15 packs. I had to get this one. I fell in love with this mini. The flowers are the size of a dime! Anyone see this one before? Know the name?

Here is the petunia that is sold with that mini, also new to me, in the same pack. Anyone know the name?

Here is another color combination pack from Lowes. It has a small white with purple center petunia and purple calibrachoa along with purple and white verbena.

This message was edited May 9, 2011 1:12 AM

The white with purple small petunia are new to me too. About half the size of a normal sized petunia flower.

Those folks who are developing all these new petunias are like drug pushers, knowing they are pushing us further into our addiction, LOL!

LOL Kywoods!

Kell, I literally don't have room for pots of petunias. I live in a townhouse, and the tiny backyard is bursting at the seams. My boyfriend complains that there's nowhere to sit down outside, since there are plants everywhere. ;-) That mini you posted above is a cutie! I must admit I bought a new peachy calibrachoa yesterday to plant...errr....somewhere. It has neat veins in the blooms. Calibrachoas either flourish or die quite quickly in my garden, and I'm not sure why. I'll try and get a picture of it and post it.

This message was edited May 10, 2011 4:27 PM

Yes, get a photo! Sounds like a beautiful one!

I find now that a lot of annuals die fast once home. I am thinking that the growers are so pumping them full of bloom boosters/hormones to get a big flush for sale that they just get exhausted soon after and die.

Kywoods, I know I am a petunia druggie for sure. And I love to feed my addiction! LOL

That makes sense, Kell. Here's a pic of Calibrachoa Noa™ Amber Star...I'm hoping this one makes it. We're in the process of redoing the area around the little pond and "waterfall," and I'd like to plant it near the waterfall and let it spill among the surrounding rocks. I'll post a pic of it in place if: a) the waterfall ever gets finished, and b) it doesn't croak on me. ;-)

Ok, bought some. seeded some, planning to pot up a bunch of containers and baskets this weekend. pictures soon. ps had to have one of those papaya potunias.....maybe I need 2 more....

Kell,

Pretty petunias. Your white and purple one reminds me of the silver petunias. I'm actually just putting all my petunias in window boxes and planters today. I started mine from seed.

So far the silvers, and cherry waves and blooming. I'm still waiting for the neon, coconut, denim, and one more who's name I can't think of, to start to bloom. I could't tell you offhand which ones are shockwave, tidal wave of just wave.

I'm sure that blooming petunias are in the nurseries here are well, put I usually start all my annuals from seed, and most o fmy perennials.

Are petunias easy to start from seed?





Our haul from yesterday (so far...):

I was excited to see this new one!

At least they're new to me, don't know if they're new this year, but I haven't noticed them before. That one above is 'Supertunia, Pretty Much Picasso".





This one doesn't say 'supertunia', just petunia, 'Phantom':



This message was edited May 15, 2011 3:55 PM

And this one is 'Supertunia, Raspberry Blast':



This message was edited May 15, 2011 3:57 PM

Oh Sunnyg, so pretty! I just love calibrachoa too! PS how is your camera doing? I am still having a nightmare. Mine is going back to Canon for the 2nd time. Seems it does not meter outside so the color is bleached out! I htink I am going to be stuck for the $900 sucky camera.

Joanna, you are so good with growing them from seed. I just do not have the room. I have my seedling table full with clivia, amaryllis and brugmansia seeds.

Pennfeather, you sound like you too know how to grow well from seed. It must be a thrill to see them all blooming and be able to remember when they were but a wee leaf or 2. So what does a denim petunia look like? If it is a true blue I will die of lust.

WOW Kywoods, you did good! Pretty Much Picasso grows big, very tight. The flowers for me stayed a bit closed and were kind of too small for a big impact. But the colors are special. That was big last year. The Phantom is new this year though I had it last year too. And 'Supertunia, Raspberry Blast' is one of my all time favorites. I think form 3 years ago. It is a great trailer and just blooms its little heart out.

Petunia Raspberry Blast

Wow, great baskets, Kell! What are the white flowers? And I haven't seen a beautiful blue sky like that in quite awhile--it seems to be monsoon season here. Thanks for the info on the ones I got...now I want even more of them, lol.

Kell,

My denim petunia aren't blooming yet, although they are branching nicely. Here is a picture of what they should eventually look like. This is from the Harris seed site. They look purplish to me.

Kell and All,
I have started 18 flats (72 cell) of different kinds of petunias from seed. Many are looking great, and today I have my first bloom. I have just started potting them up into my hanging baskets and pots. (I told my DH that I want him to get me the photo copy ability on my laptop. Since I changed computers I haven't been able to copy and paste my pictures. I will have some later.)
My question for all of you is, where do you get your seeds, what varieties do you like best and when do you start your seeds? I got 'Super Cascade, Double Cascade, Hurrah, Wave, Fluffy ruffles, and a few others. I can't wait 'til I get the blast of color that I know I am going to have. If you don't want to post here, please Dmail me. I want to get a earlier start next year.
Thanks, I love all your pictures.
Marie

Kywoods, it is bacopa. It comes in other colors too. But I have found that whenever I put it with other plants, it just overwhelms them too soon. Though sure adds to a combo pot. And you best move ASAP! Life is to short not to have blue skies all the time.

Oh Pennefeather, I just knew it was going to be really purple. I wonder why in every genus someone always names purple flowers as blue. They must think we are colorblind or maybe just that we want it so bad we will see it. Still, that purple is sure pretty!

Oh Mrrie! HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am waving madly! Boy, your garden will be glorious this year with all that petunia color! I am jealous!

Pretty Much Picasso has been a sellout for our Garden Center every time we order or have been to a falower show. Now the Black are the on trend plant for planters, we do have the super cal in red, pink, and terra, and purple. I have a mixed pot of my own I will get a photo. So far it has out performed my double purple petunias.