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Container Gardeners Go Hog Wild Over Petunias

By NORMAN WINTER McClatchy-Tribune News Service

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 19, 2008

Patios or decks have not seen as much entertaining and relaxing activities as they are now seeing since the invention of air conditioning. Along with outdoor cooking and eating, container gardening with petunias in decorative pots and lush hanging baskets is soaring in popularity.

You may be under the mistaken impression that a petunia is a petunia, but you had better get that out of your head because this terrific flower has changed. Check out just the names "Potunia," "Surfinia" and "Supertunia," and you will see they hardly sound like the same-ol', same-ol' petunia.

Most growers are raving about the Potunia, and why not? With the world growing crazy for containers and baskets on the porch, patio or deck, it stands to reason that those petunias with a mounding habit and scores of flowers would be a hit.

I wanted to see personally how the Potunia had been holding up in trials, and there it was at the top of the University of Florida's list. The Potunia has been available in pink, neon and deep purple plus some mixes, and is now available in dazzling new varieties, lobster and dark red.

While petunias traditionally are planted during the cooler months in Florida, some of the new varieties can take a bit more heat, provided they get a break from the sun during the hottest part of the day and water if it doesn't rain.

Among the leading contenders for hanging basket petunias are the Surfinias. Don't let the name throw you; these are quality petunias. The series is actually broken down now to Baby Surfinia, with eight colors; Baby Compact Surfinia, with six colors; Patio Surfinia, with seven colors; and regular Surfinia, which are the most trailing and feature 18 colors.

Then there are the Supertunias, which feature more than a dozen colors.
Petunias in containers or baskets will need to be fed regularly because as you apply water more frequently, each dose leaches out the nutrients. I like to use a diluted, water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks.

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