The Sketch Sisters: P for Petunias

Im passing through my 'Go Green' phase, where all I want to do is buy flowering plants and watch them grow :P

And so, when the 'Flower Man' came by today ( Hes just this guy who comes by now and then with a cart full of plants to sell), I ended up with a pot of purple Petunias :D

Now in case you guys didnt know, Petunias are the most popular annual plants today because of their easy availability and their gorgeously cheery blooms. They come in a variety of colors and types, to name a few, the Hedgiflora 'Wave' Petunias that grow in a carpet like fashion and is the pride of any plant lover's flower bed!

Hedgiflora 'Wave' Petunias

Then there are the Multiflora petunias, that have smaller blooms and hold quite well in the rains.

Multiflora Petunias

The Milliflora Petunias have the smallest flowers!

Milliflora Petunias

And then theres the Grandiflora Petunia with bigger blooms which is pretty much common. They do tend to get destroyed easily by rain :(

Grandiflora Petunias

Now, a little on Petunias:

1. They're annual plants which means they grow, flower and die in a year or a season.

2. They LOVE the sun :D They grow best when fully exposed to the sun or kept partially in the shade.

3. They need good, fertilized and well drained soil.

4. British Horticulturists have recently come out with a BLACK petunia!!! They're calling it 'Black Velvet' and are selling them under the catchline 'Black goes with everything'. They're said to come out next spring!

Black Velvet

5. Petunias need regular tending to else they'll get 'leggy'. A good way to prevent this is to pinch part of the stems from time to time. This also encourages more blooms ensuring a fuller look to your plant!

6. Another way to help the plant produce more blooms is to DEADHEAD the petunia. This simply means taking off a flower thats dead or injured! Thought I'd show you how :)

Its a pretty simple thing to do! In this picture, you'll notice that two flowers have withered and died.