POPULAR PETUNIAS

Surely there’s not a living soul who has not heard of petunias at some time or another in their lives, such has been their popularity since the dawn of time, well almost. The petunias that were first discovered in the mid-1700 to early-1800’s in South America actually looked nothing like the stunners that grace our gardens today. Petunia axillaris and Petunia violacea originally had small white and purple flowers, respectively, which were luckily snatched up by breeders in both Germany and England who began the, eventually successful, search for the large colourful blooms that we can buy from our garden centres today known as Petunia x hybrida.

PETUNIA PERSUASION

Petunias are one of the most recognisable and popular of the ornamental bedding plants. This is probably due to their hardiness coupled with their ability to bloom prolifically. There is a Petunia for every season and for every garden.

Petunia xhybrida is part of the Solanaceae family. This is a varied family of plants including members such as Potato, Tobacco and Capsicum as well as ornamental favourites such as Nicotiana, Salpiglossis and Schizanthus.  Petunias are native to South America but thanks to modern breeding they have now become acclimatised to most parts of the world.

Petunias of days gone past were grown and used as perennials. The modern hybrids are used as annuals although in the warmer year-round climes, they will easily cross over from one season to the next. Your cue to remove them from your garden is when they become scraggly and you see more foliage than flower.