The most famous varieties of petunias with photos and descriptions

Planting petunias in open ground

What time to plant

To grow a petunia flower, you need to use loamy soil or fertile sandy loam. Fertilizing the soil before planting will be a good help for its growth. For this, you can use humus or compost. It is not advised to use manure for such purposes - it can lead to fungal diseases.

If we talk about the place where the petunia plant is best grown, then it should, among other things, be well lit by the sun's rays. This flower refers to changes in weather conditions, temperatures are calm. But it is better to choose a day when the probability of frost is reduced to zero. Otherwise, it will have a bad effect on the development of seedlings.

Cascading petunia

From this we can conclude that the right time for such work is the last days of May - early June.

Landing features

Planting is best done in the evening or choose days when the weather is cloudy. Then the seedlings will not get sunburn, but will be able to put down good roots. Petunias need to be watered first, and then planted in the ground. This will help avoid damage to the root system.

How many centimeters you need to keep between seedlings depends on the varieties. For multi-flowered petunias - 15-20 centimeters. Large-flowered - not less than 20-25 centimeters. Ampel flowers need a distance of about 0.3 meters. When the plant is planted in the ground, it is watered, and the part that is closer to the root is mulched with peat. Thanks to this, the likelihood of drying out the roots decreases, as well as from freezing at night. Before planting, in a few days, it is better to loosen and fertilize the soil.

Commercial classification of petunias

When it comes to choosing in catalogs and on seed counters, such simple classifications are indispensable. Dozens of terms that complicate the choice, in fact, are intended to indicate the main, distinctive characteristics of varieties. And if you see additional names, thanks to the study of the main categories of petunias, you can more easily navigate their characteristics.

Depending on the combinations of different signs of petunias (for commercial purposes), it is customary to divide them into four classes:

1. Grandiflora (Grandiflora) - bush varieties with flowers from 7 to 13 cm in diameter, usually with medium bushes and a wide variety of classical gramophone varieties.

2. Multiflora - multi-flowered bush varieties of petunias with compact dense bushes and medium-sized flowers with a diameter of 4 to 7 cm.

3. Milliflora (Milliflora) - bush compact petunias with small flowers from 2 to 4 cm in diameter.

4. Floribunda (Floribunda) - medium varieties with a height of about 30 cm with elongated shoots and medium flowers with a diameter of 5 to 8 cm, characterized by increased resistance.

The four main classes, in turn, are divided into hundreds of groups. Special variety series of petunias with improved characteristics are now distributed under independent names that have become international trademarks, and have evolved from a simple group of varieties into separate categories of petunias. These include:

• supertunia (Supertunia) - large ampelous varieties with shoots up to 2 m in length and very bright large flowers;
• Surfinia (Surfinia) - charming annuals with large flowers from 5 to 9 cm and shoots that can grow up to 2 m in length and a rich selection of all shades of white-pink-blue gamut without warm tones (they are considered one of the best early flowering, hardy and fast-growing varieties of petunias);
• fortunia (Fortunia) - a series of compact, abundantly flowering ampelous petunias with flowers about 5 cm in diameter;
• pendulas, or ampelous petunias (pendula) - varieties with thin, hanging, flexible shoots, ideal for vertical gardening or as a ground cover;
• cascading petunias (Cascade) are densely bushy varieties with more powerful, exceeding a meter in length, capable of creating flowering waterfalls with their shoots, which at first develop as erect, and then droop more and more (the bushes simultaneously grow up, down and to the sides, due to which the petunias create more beautiful and harmonious, fountain-like huge cascades);
• fimbriates, or fringed petunias (Fimbriata) - varieties with elegant fringes along the edges of the petals;
• frillithunia (Frillytunia) - varieties with pronounced corrugations on the petals;
• superbissima (Superbissima) - varieties with a wavy edge of flowers strikingly wide in the throat;
• picoti (Picotee) - petunias with a contrasting white border around the edges of the flowers;
• partitunia (Partitunia) - semi-ampelous profusely flowering varieties with a very dense arrangement of flowers, creating a kind of clouds;
• minitunias (Minitunia) - small-flowered ampelous petunias with shoots up to 1 m in length.

Petunia supertunia (Supertunia). Jared Van Beveren Jacques Rollet Pendula. Luigi strano

Calibrachoa is not petunia

Relatives of petunias or pseudo-petunias do not simplify the selection process. On the market, along with numerous hybrids of petunias, plants of another species appear, which are often mistakenly called only forms and varieties of petunias. They belong to an independent genus - fashionable, bright and surprisingly hardy calibrachoa.

Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa) - the closest relative of petunias, which for its abundance and touching is not accidentally nicknamed "a thousand bells". Able to form amazingly beautiful cascades, this annual star with flexible, but well-branching and woody at the base shoots, 80 cm to 2 m long, conquers with the number of flowers, under which greenery is practically invisible, and the most outlandish colors, including yellow-orange -brown variations and varied patterns.

The undoubted advantages of calibrachoa are resistance to precipitation, versatility, abundant color and ease of formation. But she has almost no shortcomings. These include only the small size of the flowers, the exactingness of feeding, and only vegetative propagation methods.

Calibrachoa is not a petunia. Adam ace

Varietal or hybrid seeds?

Buying exclusively varietal or only hybrid (F1) seeds is a master's business. Both those and others sprout and grow equally well. Varietals are cheaper, a lot of seeds are poured into a pack, which, in general, is very profitable. Hybrid ones cost several times more, they are packed in only 5-10 seeds, enclosed in granules. But hybrid ones are easier to sow, and they give the most unusual and varied colors.

Rice. 1. Modest varietal petunias "Abundantly flowering mixture of colors" and "Multi-flowered white glaze" of the "Leader" series from "Aelita", photo in early July.

Rice. 2. Hybrid petunias come in all colors of the rainbow. Photo in early August.

Types and varieties

All varieties of petunias are shared:

• bush forms, which, in turn, are divided into large-flowered and small-flowered plants;
• ampelous;
• cascading.

Petunia hybrid

Obtained from crossing different natural forms of the plant. It is a perennial, but usually grown as an annual crop.

The plant is bushy, branched, up to 60 - 70 cm high; additional splendor is achieved by keeping the stepsons on the bush. Flowers are single, can be: simple, double, with a corrugated edge, up to 12-15 cm in diameter. Blooming petunia spreads a pleasant unobtrusive aroma. Abundant flowering, lasts from late May until frost.

There are several forms of hybrid petunia.

1. Multi-flowered form. The most unpretentious group of plants, forming a lush bush, abundantly covered with medium-sized (3 - 5 cm in diameter) simple flowers. The color of the petals: white, pink, red, lilac, purple, there are two-color varieties.Varieties: Snow Globe (bush, 40 cm high, abundantly covered with snow-white simple flowers); Alderman (bush reaches a height of 30 cm, flowers are deep blue, up to 5 cm).
2. Large-flowered form. The group is represented by rather capricious plant varieties, but it is considered the most beautiful. The diameter of flowers of various forms of the structure of the corolla reaches 13 - 15 cm. Only a few buds bloom on the bush at the same time, but their size and shades are striking. Varieties: Triumph (diameter of double flowers of various shades, up to 15 cm); Pikoti (plant height 30 cm, colors - crimson and red, blue with white edging, corolla size 6 - 8 cm); Pink sky (bush height up to 30 cm, flowers are large, bright pink).
3. Floribunda. A successful hybrid that combines an abundance of flowers and unpretentiousness of a multi-flowered petunia and the beauty of a large-flowered one.

Ampel petunia

The flower is characterized by the formation of long shoots covered with flowers that hang down. A plant that is quite demanding on heat, nutrition and moisture. Used to decorate balconies, walls. Ampelous forms of petunias are planted in hanging pots, flowerpots. Varieties:

• Ramblin is a group of multi-colored varieties of ampelous petunias, with large flowers and a shoot length of 80 - 90 cm;
• Wave - the length of the shoots of these varieties reaches 120 cm, the flower size is up to 7 cm, the color is purple, purple, blue, pink;
• Avalanche - large-flowered (up to 9 cm) ampelous petunia with shoots, 70 cm long;
• Opera Supreme is an unpretentious ampelous form, forming a lush bush, with small (up to 5 cm) blue, crimson, white or pink flowers.

Cascading petunia

Often the plant is confused with the ampelous form. The difference is in the shape of the bush. In a cascading petunia, shoots grow first up, then, under their own weight, fall down. The shoots of the plant are shorter and thicker than those of the ampelous petunia. Varieties:

• Orchid myst - large-flowered cascading petunia of white-pink color of double flowers;
• Pirouette - double flowers of various colors, varieties are unpretentious;
• Gioconda - the diameter of numerous flowers does not exceed 6 cm, their color: white, pink, purple, orange, scarlet;
• Tornado is an unpretentious group of varieties with large (up to 7 cm) flowers and shoots, more than 100 cm long;
• Burgundy - profusely flowering varieties with large double flowers of purple or deep blue.
• Surfinia is a petunia that does not belong to ampelous or cascade forms. The length of its shoots reaches 200 cm, they are covered with large flowers of different colors. Having considered the presented photos of flowers, you can truly appreciate the beauty of petunias.

Landing

If you sow multiflower petunia seeds at the end of winter, you will need additional lighting. Therefore, for most growers, the optimal planting period is the end of March. However, even in this case, due to the short daylight hours, there is a small percentage of seed germination; therefore, it is recommended to sow seeds with a certain margin. The soil should be fairly loose and nutritious. The optimal substrate for growing seedlings is rotten humus, peat and leafy soil in a ratio of 2 to 2 or 1 to 2.

The prepared container is filled with soil, the top soil layer of about 1 cm should be sifted. The day before sowing, it is necessary to moisten the substrate abundantly, this will allow the seeds to be evenly distributed on the surface. Before sowing, the seeds are recommended to be mixed with dry sand, they are spread on the soil surface and watered with a spray bottle. After that, the container is closed from above with a transparent film.

It is recommended to put the container in a warm place. After about a week, small seedlings begin to appear. Every day, 2 times they need to be ventilated and watered from a spray bottle. In order to avoid the appearance of diseases on the seedlings, it is necessary to remove the condensed water from the inside of the film.

And it is also recommended to spray the seedlings with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The film can be removed after the appearance of the first leaf, a thin layer of soil can be applied to the substrate, and moisture can be carried out only once a day.

Basic rules for growing seedlings of ampel petunia from seeds

The process of growing ampelous petunias begins at a time when white flies are still flying outside the window and the frost crackles.

The best time to sow seeds for seedlings is the end of January or the beginning of February. In this case, a beautiful and strong flowering plant can be formed by the end of May.

The basic rules of cultivation say that the soil should be fertile and watering should be moderate. A large amount of sun, additional lighting, timely picking and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers - these are all aspects of future care.

Seedlings of ampelous petunias are relatively resistant to unfavorable growing conditions, but additional lighting can be very helpful. Ampelous petunia grown from seeds has one amazing property.

With the help of staged seeding, the longest flowering can be obtained if sown at intervals of 2 weeks until the end of March. So stock up on brightly colored seed packs.

Before growing ampelous petunia from seeds, you need to prepare everything you need

Be sure to pay attention to the quality of the planting material - buy seeds only from well-known companies with a guarantee of their germination and preservation of varietal characteristics

You will also need a loose and light textured soil. The soil is sterilized before sowing. To do this, you can use a microwave oven, in which the soil is placed at full power for 10 minutes.

Then planting containers are filled with them, the surface is compacted and laid with snow to such a height that about 1 cm remains to the upper edge of the sides.

The snow is compacted and the seeds of ampelous petunia are laid on it, it is impossible to sprinkle it on top with soil, it requires the penetration of sunlight for germination. Then the container is covered with glass or transparent plastic wrap on top and installed on the southern windowsill.

Periodically remove the film and ventilate the soil, moisten it in the area of ​​the seeds using drip irrigation. Seedlings appear after 10 - 15 days.

After the emergence of shoots, daily in the morning and in the evening, the shoots are plentifully sprinkled from a spray bottle with warm, settled water.

Upon reaching the phase of formation of the second pair of true leaves, a pick is carried out into separate peat pots with a diameter of up to 5 cm.

After 30 days, the seedlings can be transplanted into planters and balcony boxes. Seedlings are planted in open ground after reaching a stable air and soil temperature without the threat of recurrent frosts.

A practical approach to choosing petunias

In order not to get confused in the choice of varieties and types of petunias, as well as to easily navigate the presented assortment, it is worthwhile to determine the correct guidelines for yourself in advance.

First of all, when choosing a variety, you need to formulate the task that the plant is designed to perform. Before exploring the range of available garden petunias, consider why you need petunia, where and how you will use it, from the garden or balcony it will decorate to the container it will grow in and its intended neighbors. ...

Knowing the goal makes it much easier to find the remedy. Even if you have only a rough idea that you want to plant petunias along the front edge of a flower garden or use for a pot garden, a general idea will help you a lot in choosing varieties.

Break down the entire selection process into several steps. And having decided on each of them, you can find the plant you need much faster. When choosing a petunia variety for your garden, try to answer a few questions:

1. What kind of petunia do you need in growth form - upright or creeping?

2.Will petunia be grown in open soil or in any type of container?

3. Is the size of the bushes and the length of the shoots important - do you need large, massive or compact mini-varieties?

4. Will petunia be weather-susceptible - sheltered from precipitation or open space?

5. Is there a need for earlier flowering?

6. Does the set decorative task - the role of the plant in the composition - determine the specific characteristics of the variety:

• large or small flowering;
• regular or super-abundant flowering;
• dark, light or medium colors;
• the specific color that needs to be added to the composition;
• the classical shape or the desired originality of the flowers;
• is it permissible to use plants with an unusual color, etc.

For vertical, hanging gardens and flowering walls, only ampelous varieties of petunias are used.

The criteria for selecting varieties of petunias in practice are easier to apply than in theory:

1. If a potted garden will be decorated with petunia, then you will need bushy plants for ordinary pots, ampelous - for replanting to tubs and other plants.

2. For flower girls and large flowerpots choose bush petunias.

3. When decorating balconies, bush petunias are planted in common containers and boxes, if the plant is decorated with the edge of the container or hanging baskets, then hanging ampel varieties are better suited.

4. To decorate the soil of flower beds, ridges and spots, large and medium bush petunias are used, except for cases when they fill empty soil or create carpets or carpet mixborders from them (in these cases, the choice should be made on creeping varieties).

5. For borders, the choice should be stopped on medium-sized or dwarf bush petunias.

6. For vertical, hanging gardens and flowering walls, only ampel varieties of petunias are used.

7. For single hanging baskets, select cascading varieties of ampel petunias.

Cascade petunia (Cascade). Muller Seeds Petunia fimbriata, or fringed (Fimbriata). bloomingarden Petunia Picotee. Farao seeds

Differences from petunia

The main advantage of surfinia over other petunias is that the latter are extremely unstable to adverse weather factors. This plant has so delicate and delicate petals that under the drops of heavy rain they turn into a shapeless mass, and a gust of wind simply tears them off, flower growers even advise bringing flowerpots with petunias into the house during showers, thunderstorms and strong winds. Agree, this is very inconvenient.

It can be safely argued that surfinia is a truly ideal ampelous culture, therefore, buyers of seedlings often fall prey to deceivers who, under the guise of surfinia, sell simple petunias. In order not to be mistaken, consider the main differences between these related cultures.

Seedlings of garden petunia and surfinia differ in their ability to branch shoots and vigor of growth. The seedlings of the latter are larger, surfiniya grows like a "spider" - it gives a large number of lateral shoots, which at first spread horizontally, and as they grow, they fall down. In petunias, lateral shoots are not so numerous, while in the initial phase of development they grow upward, and descend much later.

But finding the difference between these close relatives in terms of flower size, shade and shape is unlikely to come out, for example, the ampelous variety of supertunia petunia visually does not differ in any way from surfinia, so buying seedlings in any case is better from a trusted seller, whose reliability is beyond doubt ...

It should be noted that both annuals can form a young bush in different ways. In order to achieve the splendor of the bush, the flower should periodically pinch the lashes on the sides in order to stimulate increased branching, so first you need to grow all the necessary green mass, and only then "allow" it to bloom.Surfinia does not require such an intervention - you can simply direct its branches in the direction you need, but without additional help it will be able to quickly and efficiently braid all the space allotted for it.

Surfinia and petunia differ in breeding method. The point here is that after flowering, petunia gives seeds suitable for germination, which are used to propagate this plant in the next period. Surfinia was bred artificially, and the seed method is not possible, you can get new planting material for this flower only vegetatively - that is, by cuttings.

The main differences

What is the difference between ampelous and cascading petunias? We offer to compare their characteristics in the table:

To distinguish one type of petunia from another, it is necessary to estimate the thickness and length of the stems, the direction of their growth

Petunias ampelous

The length of the shoots varies from 50-80 to 120-150 cm. In the process of growth, the stems immediately gently fall down, without falling apart in different directions, which allows the plants to be given any desired shape. Varieties of this type are most often used for vertical gardening, growing in hanging pots.

Plants of the ampelous group are best planted in hanging pots, forming beautiful compositions

The size of the leaves depends on the age, the older the plant, the larger they are. There are many flowers, they are located one by one in each sinus and are evenly distributed along the entire length of the shoot. The classic shape of the flower resembles a bell, but now a large number of petunias with increased decorativeness have been bred, with double, semi-double, corrugated and fringed flowers with carved edges of the petals. The color palette is extremely varied. The petals can be just white, pink, purple, etc., but often they combine several shades at once, for example, the inside (the throat of the corolla) can have a more intense color than the edges.

Petunias of the varietal series "Opera Supreme" or "Easy Wave" (pictured) with a dark throat and contrasting border look great next to monochromatic varieties

Interestingly, buds of various sizes and shades can be located on the same stem. When planted in a flowerpot, you can get an incredibly beautiful and bright flower arrangement.

Buds of different shades can be located on the same stem, which makes the flower arrangement even brighter and more attractive

Petunias cascading

Cascade petunias in some classifications are considered as an independent group, but more often they are considered ampelous. The decorative qualities of cascading varieties are rated higher, since the plants are distinguished by a more dense bushiness, increasing the green mass due to axillary shoots. Flowering occurs both on the main and lateral stems, which are thicker and more elastic, do not break so much in strong winds and are even able to recover from mechanical damage. In addition, young shoots initially stretch up and to the sides, and then, as they grow, begin to creep along a horizontal surface or droop out of hanging containers, creating a spherical cascade shape resembling a fountain or waterfall. Unlike "true" ampelous, the flowers of the cascading varieties are more uniform in size and color.

Cascading varieties look great in large tubs and large floor planters, as well as in hanging pots and balcony boxes

Choosing a place for a plant

For petunias, it is necessary to select well-lit areas, protected from the wind. The delicate petals of the plant do not withstand gusts of wind, they quickly wither. The flower will be comfortable in a flower bed located near the wall of the building. Often, petunias are planted at the foot of large perennials, the plants do not interfere with each other, and for petunias, wind protection will not hurt.

The flower was widely spread as a pot culture. The plant feels comfortable in the limited space of the pot. Vases or pots with petunias are displayed on balconies, terraces, they decorate the walls of buildings, window sills.

Petunia in a flowerpot

Soil preparation

The plant makes high demands on the structure and fertility of the soil. Petunia soil is suitable with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction, moisture-absorbing and loose, with a high humus content. Light fertile loams meet these requirements.

Heavy soils are corrected by introducing significant doses of sand (up to 10 kg per square meter) and humus (6 - 8 kg). Sandy soils are ennobled by adding rotted manure and sod land.

For planting plants in pots and flowerpots, the following composition of the soil mixture is used: peat, humus, sand and sod land in equal proportions. For better moisture retention in an earthen coma, experienced flower growers advise adding a hydrogel to the soil. Additionally, a mineral fertilizer complex for petunias is applied, normally according to the instructions.

Growing

When 3-4 leaves appear on the stem, it is recommended to pick, initially moistening the soil

It is necessary to pry the plant with a thin stick and carefully pull it out of the substrate. Small plastic pots are suitable for picking.

After the process, it is recommended to moisten the plants abundantly and cover them with paper leaves.

At this time, special attention should be paid to caring for the petunia. The soil should always be slightly moistened

It is difficult to say how many times it is necessary to moisten the substrate, since various factors can influence this. In some cases it will be enough to water once a week, and in some - a couple of times a day.

A week after the pick, the plants need to be fed periodically. It is imperative to alternate root and foliar feeding methods. For this, the following means are used: "Kemira", "Solution", "Nitrofoska" and other fertilizers in a proportion of 25-35 grams per 10 liters of water.

Some varieties of multiflora multiflora bloom after 2.5 months, and some only after 3 months. Before transplanting seedlings into open soil, it must be hardened. To do this, during the day, you need to take the seedlings out into the street, or put them in a cool place for several days.

Petunia grows well in fertile loamy soil, where humus was introduced in advance. It is not recommended to fertilize with manure, since in this case various fungi appear on the plants. It is necessary to plant seedlings in open ground when there is no threat of repeated frost.

When planting seedlings during the flowering period, the plants will delight with their flowers until late autumn. It is customary to leave a distance of 30-40 cm between plants. Transplanted petunias are abundantly watered with warm water.

Many varieties of petunias are most often resistant to dry weather, but they must be watered in hot weather. Large-flowered plants need more moisture than small-flowered plants. For a longer flowering of the plant, it is recommended to systematically feed with complex fertilizers.