I discovered Flower Friday last year while visiting Lorilin@Bugbugbooks and have been having a blast sharing some flower pictures and information. Please check out Lorilin’s blog if you haven’t already for book reviews and more!
Today’s Flower is:
Tidal Wave & Shock Wave Petunias
I ended up choosing deep purple shock wave and red velour tidal wave petunias this season. These red velour petunias can spread up to 5 feet!
Tidal wave and shock wave petunias are easy to grow and start from seed. You can buy pelleted seed online which makes for easy sowing. I start mine in trays in mid to late February so the baskets are full by early June. It usually only takes three to four plants per basket and you’ll save money by growing your own as they cost around $17 to 20 dollars or more. You can also reuse your baskets two or three times as long as you put them up in winter.
The only bad thing about growing petunias is that you have to deadhead them in order to keep them blooming all summer. I have no idea how some of the garden centers are stating that you don’t need to do this, but for me I’ve learned to do it or lose the blooms early in the season. At first, I used to think you only needed to pull the flower off, but noticed mine were going to seed to soon. I finally learned to deadhead them properly. I’m no flower expert, but I know the only way to keep mine blooming is with this method.
As soon as I see a bloom shriveling and looking bad, I cut it off completely including the stem as far back as possible.
If you don’t cut it in time, a seed pod will form behind the flower.
If you’re too late, just cut the seed head off behind the stem.
If you leave these on, the plant will eventually stop blooming. The seed pod will dry on the plant and drop little black seeds everywhere. I’ve even had new petunias bloom on the ground same season! Here’s a close up. Hundreds of seeds in one little pod.
These are annuals, but the nice thing is that later on in the season you can collect some seed and save them for next year. I usually just buy pelleted seed because it’s cheap and easier to sow, but saving works too. If you grow these in the ground, they’ll reseed themselves and you’ll have beautiful petunia beds every year.
They are heavy feeders so I fertilize mine with compost tea at least once every week or two. They also need full sun. For the most part, they are easy to care for and just take a little patience.
Thanks for checking out Flower Friday! What are some of your favorite flowers to grow? Feel free to share comments below.
❤ Mischenko
Sadly, I had 2 beautiful petunia plants, but they both died after the relentless rain we had here over the past couple of months. They were in planters, not in the ground, so I guess it was just too much water for them to deal with. 😥 But I didn’t know about cutting them back that far, so thanks for that tip. I always just pulled the withering flower out of its base. I think I’ll try again. 🙂🌺
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Aww! Sorry to hear that, Bonnie. The rain has been bad here too and hail. Of course, now it’s getting dry again, lol. 🤣 I hope it’s not going to be one of those years! I hope you try some more and good luck with them. Hugs xoxo 😙❤
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My goodness. Me ship doesn’t have room for live plants but I have to admit I love gardens and arboretums on the shore. Plants are awesome when other people do the work. But I was amazed at both how lovely the plants are in yer post and also how informative the text was. The pictures were also extremely helpful. I enjoy learnin’ new facts even when I don’t plan on usin’ them meself. But ye never know what information can be helpful in the future. Thanks matey!
x The Captain
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Thanks so much, Captain! ❤ I'm so glad you enjoyed the post. Appreciate your comment!!
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This is a great post! I need an allotment somewhere.
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Thanks, David! So easy to grow. ❤
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🙂 Another beautiful flower post… and gardening tips!!
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Thanks! ❤
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I love these, M! I especially love the red velour! We usually put up “window boxes” on the deck with flowers, and we had some wavy petunias in one last year that spread down into all my pots below with the seeds! We covered up the pots with a little straw over winter, and voila, we have a beautiful wavy petunia pot for no cost! A peony tree was planted in that large part last year, and it didn’t make it, so at least I have some petunias now. I have not consistently deadheaded the proper way (so much easier to pull off the flower!), but I am going to try to do better. Wonderful informative post! Happy weekend, xo 😘
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I’ve always wanted window boxes! I bet yours are so beautiful too. Isn’t it amazing how much seed they drop? That’s just a wonderful story. I hope this deadheading method works for you! Thanks so much, Jennifer. ❤ 😀
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This is the first year we didn’t put up the boxes on the deck! I miss them, but on a 97 degree day like today, it was nice to water a little quicker this morning! 💗
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I hear you! The heat is killer. 🧡😁
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I love the way they grow to hang so long. Beautiful colors! I didn’t know about the dead-heading technique either. Interesting. Great post!🌸
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Me too! Thanks so much! ❤
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I love Petunias!! Thanks for educating us about them. 😊
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Thanks so much, Laurie! ❤ I hope this will help others. It's the only thing that's worked for me. 😀
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Wow! Sounds like you could end up with an epidemic of petunias, for sure!! Great pictures! I love the colour. 💖💖🍻🌺🌺
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You totally could! 😀 Thank you. ❤
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Who doesn’t love petunias. They are beautiful and so easy to grow. I absolutely love the deep red colour of the one you have. I did not know that they would reseed themselves in a bed. I have only grown them in hanging pots. Learn something new everyday.
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We’ve had ours reseed on the ground under baskets! It’s crazy. I try to keep the seed pods cut, but they always have some hiding in there lol. Glad you love this flower too, Carla. Thank you 🧡💙🧡
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Beautiful!
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Thank you! ❤
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