Spreading Petunias

We are just entering the heart of Petunia season, and for good reason: this is glorious weather for Spreading Petunias. Cooler nights and warmer days will get this plant growing, plus the frost is gone and we’ve got weeks of very comfortable weather ahead of us. Now is the time to stock up, so let’s walk through our Petunia crop to see what’s available:

For retailers, we have an extensive selection of 306 market baskets. We like to grow the Waves and Easy Waves in this size because they stay nice and tidy in their little basket trays, which help to extend their shelf life. We offer (12) different colors and the very popular patriotic flag mix for the summer garden.

To cover a lot of ground or fill large containers we recommend the Ramblin’ series of 8-inch Petunias. These are robust plants that can fill a space quickly with lots of color. We also sell the Wave Petunias, which have a Coke/Pepsi relationship with the Ramblin’ series. We grow them both because each line has some unique colors in the mix.

8-in Petunia pots are excellent for landscapers because each plant is big and healthy enough to tend to itself. Usually a quick fill-in of color is important to a client, and the larger pots will do just that. The same issue applies in the home garden—quicker, fuller color is a strong reason for buying these pots.

Homeowners can drop the 8-inch pots into larger custom containers, pottery, urns and boxes. These plants feature a fabulous draping style that has an appealing flow to the eye. Something as simple as a couple of pots on the end of a picnic table or in the middle of a birdbath makes summer decorating easy.

Landscapers—we sell Spreading Petunias in 1801s and 1801 Deep trays. The deep tray is always a better choice because you’ll be getting more roots for your money. This means your plants will establish themselves more quickly and with less trouble than those in standard trays with smaller root plugs. We offer over (20) different colors and styles of Petunias in landscape-specific trays.

If you need bigger plants than what the 1801s offer but something smaller than the 8-inch pots, we also sell Spreading Petunias in 6-inch pots. They take a little longer to fill in, but they don’t cost as much, either. The 6-inch pot is a good choice for large beddings that still need to fill their color in quickly. We offer both Ramblin’ and Shock Wave series in this size.

Spreading Petunias are among the Big Guns of Spring, so it is important that you offer a generous and diverse selection to your retail customers. These plants practically define a garden center and signify the arrival of the good weather.