A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 petunias a pain in the patootee

Am I the only one with this problem........My petunias look like well @%#&* if you see what I mean. They were so beautiful and now every time I look at them I see more and more yellow, more stalk and less flowers. The flowers are even starting to get a blochy white color to the blooms. Looks like someone dropped bleach on them. Any suggestions? I am going to try something different in my window planters next year.....Something much much more hardy. Any suggestions for beautiful hanging heat tolerant flowers. Something that wont have to be watered every day and usually 2 times a day. The temp is reading 109 here at the moment. I am ready for fall!

Portulacas!!!! They are extremely heat tolerant and don't need a lot of water, and thrive under poor conditions......They come in all kinds of beautiful colors!!!! Yellow, peach, coral, white, pink...........

And don't feel bad...some of my petunias are looking terrible, while some others I have still look great.....

I'm going to move this over to gardeners chat okay?

Hi Karrie ~

I agree wholeheartedly with loz ~ Portulacas might do very well for you!

The problem many people encounter with petunias throughout the middle United States is that they start looking way too shabby by mid-summer. The sun is just too much for them. So lots of folks I know in OH, KY, IN, etc., only use them as a spring flower.

Here in Maine where the summers are more mild, petunias FLOURISH like crazy. When my OH family visits, they can't quite believe their eyes at the abundance of rich hardy blooms still going strong in August.

Merme

Thanks Loz. The petunias I have in the ground are beautiful. Some are in a span of over 2ft at this point. They are the wave petunias. But the ones in the boxed look so punie, even after mutiply waterings a day. Seems like I can water in morning and head out at noon and see that they are dry as can be already.

Here are some of my portulacas.....they really do hold up well in the heat....





They spread well too....actually too well...I had them coming up all over the place this year from the seeds that blew around last year....

They trail nicely over containers...I use them in hanging baskets too!

Merme I am about to pull them and put in my fall flowers. Which by the way - any suggestions for fall container flowers. This is my first year with the window boxes. I love the look they give the house. Its down right charming. The petunias looked beautiful right up untill I went on vacation (3 weeks ago) and the girl I paid to take care of them didn't. They are blooming again but I think the negelect was too much for them. Just might have to try the portulacas this comeing summer. Do they bloom profusely? (sp?) I am a big fan of blooms.

Those are beautiful Loz. That might do. How do they fair around like a side walk or area like that? I have sweet alyssum there now. It looks worse then the petunias. Its all dyeing and turning brown. And it too was so lush before I went on vacation. It had covered an aea of the side walk about 10 inches inward. I have worked so hard on those areas of my house this year. And now I am getting depressed with the appearance. Thank god its almost time to plant fall color.

Yes, they do bloom profusely.......more so on sunny days...but the ones I have out front in windowboxes are very pretty!!!!

Come fall I'll take them out and put in some mums!!!!!!!

Well as long as people aren't walking on them they'll be great--I have some planted near the edge of our cement path....You don't have to water them often because they hold water in the fleshy stems......plus you can cut a piece off of one and stick it in a pot and water it and it will root very easily.....I did that with a lot of mine...snipped a little piece off and grew more....

They also go by the common name of moss rose...I love them and will always have them in my garden.....

These petunias in this picture are actually hanging over the timbers and have grown from the front to the back wall and are even covering the white nancy http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/daisey_diesel/detail?.dir=2700&.dnm=eaf8.jpg&.src=ph I will have to take some new pics and show them to you all. I am so pleased with them.

Ok I am off to cook dinner thanks for the lift of spirits ladies. Hope to talk to you all later.

YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN, MERME!!!

My father and I were so impressed with the gorgeous petunias... as well as most of the flowers there!!! BREATHTAKING!!! LUSH!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!