Petunias: The Perfect Pick

Flowers, buds, blossoms, blooms -- it's what we desire: non-stop color in our flower beds. So we think, plan, and to try to figure out what we want to see blooming. What we want is flowers, lots and lots of flowers!

Why not do it the easy way this season? Don't be stressed out and confused over whether your plant choice and location are correct. Petunias are an easy way to fill your garden with blooms and color. They are one of a kind and hard to beat. You can find them in loads of colors, and they just keep blooming for the entire growing season.

Steve Bender, a gardening genius and senior editor at Southern Living Magazine, says, "I love Wave petunias! They're one of the best innovations in Southern gardening these past few years. These flowers will bloom continuously throughout the season from spring until fall. All winter long they are fantastic in Florida. Wave is the best way to get a great garden if you're lazy like me."

So try something new!

There are many possibilities as you can plant them in pots, in garden plots, over rocks and rivers, within urns, or even in beds and borders.

Some simple ideas will help you make your garden more interesting this year.

Start with a blast of class. You've gotten respect the old-fashioned way- you urn-ed it! Look for a good urn and plant Easy Wave Blue petunias, then add a flower bed beneath the urn in the same color. Flowers fill in very quickly, and they create a classy, elegant focal point to landscapes and container gardens.

Do you prefer the patriotic? Americans are showing off their patriotism in the garden, doing everything from hanging the stars and stripes to saluting Uncle Sam. There's no better way to show your patriotic spirit than with the Easy Wave The Flag Mix, it supplies you with plenty of red, white and blue. Red, white, and blue are classic colors in any summer garden. Easy Wave offers O Canada mix for our neighbors to the north. It of course, consists of red and white.

Beach Balls and Sea Shells. Bring the beach home by catching the Easy Wave Beachcomber Mix. Make a hanging basket full of all the colors that remind you of a great day at the beach. Easy Wave Blue, Shell Pink, and Coral Reef are included in the Beachcomber Mix.

Use Colossal Containers to achieve a Big Bang. Tidal Wave Silver petunias will create a huge volume of blossoms wherever they're planted. This will conceal any landscape problems and add vertical interest to your space. Plant them in a large raised pot, over drifting colors on the ground, and you'll discover how impressive these huge petunias are.

Two Times as Nice. The double blooms of Double Wave petunias are quite frilly, looking much like roses but with much less work. These petunias will fill any hanging basket, patio planter, or container you plant them in- and keep it full all season.

A nice choice for summer flowers are wave petunias. Bender stated, "They are absolutely fabulous in flowerbeds, containers, window boxed, and hanging baskets. They love full sun and heat, are drought-tolerant, and don't take much work. Try them out and you'll agree!"

Wave petunias need at least six daily hours of sunlight and damp soil. Keep hungry wave petunias well-fed with an all-purpose fertilizer applied every two weeks, especially if you are growing in containers.

The famous family of Ride The Wave petunias are available in these four different series:

The Original Wave Series. These are the easy to grow flowers that are low maintenance, additionally, they look great in pots, hanging baskets, and in flower beds. Wave petunias can tolerate nearly any growing condition and stay in bloom without artificial means. These plants grow almost visibly, up to 48" spread and 6" height. Six different shades are now for sale.

The Easy Wave Series. Easy wave petunias confine themselves into a clump, making them perfect for baskets or containers. These flowers then fill in the center, which stays full for the rest of the summer. Easy Wave petunias grow large - up to 12 inches tall and with a width of almost 3 feet! Five designer mixes and eight shades are now on sale.

The Double Wave Series. Double-flowered blooms will fill your garden quickly when you grow Double Wave petunias. Heat and cold, wet or dry- Double Wave petunias prosper through different kinds of weather, all season long. Double Wave petunias can spread up to 36" but will only grow to about a height of 6". You will find eight shades to choose from.

The Tidal Wave Series. Tidal Wave plants are also known by the classification of a hedge petunia because they grow tall and wide. You can plant them 2 feet apart to create a ground cover, or closer to create a thick, curved hedge. Tidal Wave petunias will climb if given support and little space to spread out. Tidal Wave petunias grow 16 to 22 in. Up to a 4ft. spread and tall. Four different shades are now available.