Petunia
Petunia selections
Petunias are fail-proof favorites for gardeners everywhere. They are vigorous growers and prolific bloomers from mid-spring through late fall. Color choices are nearly limitless, with some sporting beautiful veining and intriguing colors. Many varieties are sweetly fragrant (sniff blooms in the garden center to be sure.) Some also tout themselves as "weatherproof," which means that the flowers don't close up when water is splashed on them.
'Wave' petunias have made this plant even more popular. Reaching up to 4 feet long, it's great as a groundcover or when cascading from window boxes and pots. All petunias do best and grow more bushy and full if you pinch or cut them back by about one- to two-thirds in midsummer.
Shown above: Merlin Blue Morn petunia
- Light:
- Sun, Part Sun
- Plant Type:
- Annual
- Plant Height:
- 6 inches -4 feet tall, depending on type
- Plant Width:
- 1-4 feet wide, depending on type
- Landscape Uses:
- Containers, Beds & Borders, Groundcover
- Special Features:
- Flowers, Fragrant, Attracts Hummingbirds, Attracts Butterflies, Tolerates Wet Soil, Deer Resistant, Easy to Grow
Top Varieties
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Petunia 'Wave Blue') liberally splashes bright purple-blue color through the garden, growing rapidly to 4 feet and blooming profusely all season.
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Petunia 'Wave Double Velvet') bears double, purple-blue flowers on vigorous plants that reach 6 inches tall and 2 feet wide.
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Petunia 'Famous Lilac Picotee') is a vigorous variety with a semi-trailing habit and lilac-purple flowers edged in white. It grows 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide.
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Petunia 'Fantasy Pink Morn') bears soft pink blooms with a white throat on compact plants that grow 1 foot tall and wide.
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Petunia 'Madness Yellow') is a floriferous selection with clean yellow blooms, great branching, and season-long performance. It grows 15 inches tall and 18 inches wide.
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Petunia 'Merlin Blue Morn') offers rich purple flowers that have a glowing white center. This award-winning variety grows 18 inches tall and wide.
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Petunia 'Merlin Rose') produces beautiful pink blooms with a white and yellow throat on plants that grow 1 foot tall and wide.
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Petunia 'Opera Supreme Pink Morn') bears bright pink flowers with a soft white center. This award-winning variety grows 6 inches tall and 3 feet wide.
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Petunia 'Orchid Daddy') is an award-winning selection with 4-inch-wide lavender-pink blooms that bear darker veins. It grows to 1 foot tall and wide.
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Petunia 'Pirouette Rose') bears frilly, double, pink-and-white flowers on 1-foot plants. It's not as heat tolerant as many other petunia varieties.
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Petunia 'Wave Purple') is an award-winning selection with magenta flowers on 4-inch-tall plants that can spread 4 feet wide.
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Petunia 'Storm White') bears big pure-white flowers all summer long. It holds up to heat well and grows 14 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
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Petunia 'Vista Silverberry') offers silvery pink flowers on vigorous, long-blooming plants that grow 2 feet tall and wide.
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Petunia integrifolia) is native to areas of Mexico and bears magenta flowers all summer long. It scrambles to 2 feet and often self seeds.
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Sweet alyssum Tiny, delicate alyssum contrasts well with the much larger blooms of petunia.
Heliotrope Heliotrope and sprawling petunias combine beautifully in containers, creating a fragrant magnet for butterflies.
Salvia Upright salvias in purple, red, or white create a regal backdrop behind ground-creeping petunias.