Brighten up a dreary winter
PETUNIAS: NEED SUN FOR AT LEAST SIX HOURS A DAY, BUT CAN BE KEPT INDOORS FOR TWO DAYS
Like fertile soil that drains well, so dig compost into bed.
For masses of winter colour or to fill hanging baskets and containers, petunias have long been a popular winter flower, alongside pansies and primulas. But petunias never really stood out as a novelty until the Sky series was introduced in 2016.
Night Sky was the first, with each bloom like a star-spangled sky in the evening. It quickly gained popularity on Instagram and its cascading habit made it popular with gardeners.
Night Sky was the result of a breeding breakthrough because no other petunia had the starry, speckled pattern on its blooms.
Each bloom is quite different, with its own unique pattern, and this pattern can change with the temperature, producing interesting and variable blooms throughout the growing season.
In general, cooler temperatures will yield more white spots and warmer temperatures will cause the petals to be more purple.
As the best-performing petunia in a generation, it has revived interest in petunias, especially as feature plants that don’t fade into the background.
Since then, other flecked beauties have been released. Baby Doll is pink with white flecks; Lightning Sky is speckled and stars yellow and red-velvet petals that sparkle like a firework display and Splash Dance Magenta Mambo has purple flowers with multi-coloured specks.
This year’s new release is Circus Sky, with white flecks and stripes on bold pink petals. Like Night Sky, it is a strong-growing, semi-trailing petunia that tolerates wet weather.
The flowers are single and its neat growth suits smaller gardens, patio planters, window boxes and hanging baskets.
Plants can double-up as in indoor flower arrangement for a day or two before being planted out.
Although they are annuals, the Sky petunias have a long growing season.
Planted now, they will continue to the following summer, with non-stop blooms, especially in warm, sunny winter gardens.
TIPS FOR TOP PERFORMANCE
Petunias need full sun – at least six hours – to bloom well. This includes plants in containers.
Plants may flower in beds that are lightly shaded for part of the day, but with too much shade their stems start to stretch.
Plant in fertile soil that drains well and especially in sandy soil, add compost before planting.
When planting in containers, don’t use old potting soil, but wash out the container and fill with new potting soil. Old potting soil can carry disease and its micro and macro elements could have leached out with watering.
Because plants use a lot of energy to produce continuous flowers, they need regular fertilising. Feed container-grown petunias with a liquid fertiliser for flowers every two weeks, and garden grown petunias once a month with Vigorosa 5:1:5. Water well after applying the fertiliser.
Plants generally don’t need dead heading, but they can be kept in good shape with a light trim halfway through the season or if they start to get straggly.
Don’t kill with kindness
The most common cause of petunias dying is over watering. They can take less water that we think. Diseases like damping off are caused by too much water.
Water thoroughly once or twice a week (depending on soil and temperature) rather than a little every day.
It is not harmful to let petunias dry out a little, even if their leaves start to droop. This allows oxygen into the soil, forces the plant to put down deeper roots and prevents water logging.
If you have an automatic irrigation system, reduce the frequency in winter and after it has rained.
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