Genus: Petunia
Species: hybrid
Series: Supertunia
Variety: Bordeaux
Common Name: Petunia

Ahhhh. To be in the full sun among the birdies and the flowers, it is delightful, yes? So peaceful, so lovely, so – how do you say it? Real? I can tell by the look in your eyes that you are a person of exquisite taste and refinement. That you surround yourself with beauty is obvious. Yet perhaps, just perhaps, something is missing. Something that would bring you great joy-- that would fill the emptiness in your hanging baskets, containers, and landscapes. Please permit me to help.

For you alone I will cover myself with a plethora of blooming flowers the color of a maiden’s blushing cheek. I will vein them with the richness of dark, sweet wine. Your hands, your lovely hands, will never know the repetitiveness of deadheading. Neither the burning heat of summer nor swarms of nectar-crazed butterflies and hummingbirds can change what I feel for you. For myself, I ask nothing except food and water. It is only so that I may remain with you, still fresh, still cloaked in blooms until the first hard frost. Or if you make a home for me in zones 10 – 11, we can be together always. Now take me. I am yours.

Growing Tips
Self-cleaning no deadheading necessary, this is not necessarily true of all Petunias.

Late July and August is when plants should be at their best, but there is only one problem: The plants have run out of energy and the gardeners realize it too late to help the plants recover. This is especially true in raised containers and hanging baskets. Here is the best way to keep your Petunias in the Super category.

1. When you buy them in the spring, buy a slow release fertilizer to top dress the basket or container. If you plant your own basket, incorporate some of the slow release fertilizer in the soil as you plant. Follow the package directions.

2. In May fertilize with a water-soluble fertilizer once every two weeks. Mix up the fertilizer and water the plants just like you would if you were using clear water. It normally takes a good half of gallon of water
To really water a 10" wide basket or raised container.

3. In June as the weather starts to get warm to hot, fertilize weekly, again with a good soaking. If the weather turns really hot as it sometimes does in
Late June you may need to fertilize every third watering. By now the Supertunia is really growing and starting to tumble down from the basket or fill out across the flowerbed.

4. July is when the cutting back occurs. Around the 4th of July, (after your big party) get some of the slow release fertilizer that you bought in spring and re-apply across the top of the planter. At the same time, trim back
some of the longer branches just enough to bring the plant back in line with the bottom of the pot or basket. Don't remove too much at the maximum cut back 20% of the branches or 1 in five shoots. You can also just give it a general light trim. Your plant will be out of flower for a few days, but will come back stronger than ever. By now with July's heat you should be watering at least every other day and begin to fertilize every other watering. I know it sounds like a lot, but if you want a plant to grow like an elephant and be the most it can be, you got to feed it like an elephant!

5. August is, hot, humid, & sometimes with monsoons. Keep up the water and fertilizing, and again, if the plant starts to look straggly remove a few more branches but never more than 20% or give it a general trim as before.

6. It is September and the plants should still look good, start to back off the watering and the feed, but shape the basket with the last pruning of the season.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it really is a labor of love. I fertilize my baskets and my garden every time I water, and I water daily from mid July through August. I recently invested in the WaterWise irrigation system and let me tell you it really works. You will find that your Supertunias, along with all the rest of your plants will keep looking fantastic through September and perhaps with the luck of a gardener and a late frost maybe even into October.

Exposure
Full sun

Height
6-10"

Spacing
10-18"

Hardy Temp
30°F

Zone(s)
10

Uses
Plant alone or in combinations in all container types and landscapes

Features
Blooms all season with pink flowers highlighted by deep plum-burgundy veins; vigorous plants; fertilize often; low maintenance

Awards Won
2009 - Prairie Star
  -Kansas State University
2009 - Top Performer
  -Kansas State University
2009 - Prairie Star
  -Kansas State University
2009 - Best Varieties
  -Penn State
2009 - Top Performers
  -Delaware Valley College, Henry Schmieder Arboretum
2008 - Top 22
  -Mississippi State University
2008 - Top Performer
  -Michigan State University
2007 - Top Rated Performer
  -City of Cedar Rapids
2007 - Knock Your Socks Off
  -University of Georgia
2007 - Top Performer
  -Ohio State University Extension - Springfield
2007 - Top Performer
  -Longwood Gardens
2007 - Leader of the Pack Summer
  -North Carolina State, JC Raulston Arboretum
2007 - Leader of the Pack Early Season
  -North Carolina State, JC Raulston Arboretum
2007 - Top Consumer Choice
  -Ohio State University - Columbus
2007 - Top Performer
  -Michigan State University
2007 - Top Performer
  -Smithsonian Institution
2007 - Top Performer
  -Kansas State University
2007 - Prairie Star
  -Kansas State University
2006 - Top Performer
  -Michigan State University
2006 - Top Performers
  -City of Cedar Rapids
2006 - Best Varieties
  -Colorado State University
2006 - Superior Variety
  -Penn State
2005 - Prairie Star
  -Kansas State University
2005 - Top 25
  -Cornell University
2005 - Top Performer
  -Kansas State University
2005 - Way Hot 100
  -Garden Design
2004 - Best Petunia
  -Colorado State University
2004 - Excellent Rating
  -Disney Winter Trials
2004 - Leader of the Pack Early Season
  -North Carolina State, JC Raulston Arboretum
2004 - Leader of the Pack Late Season
  -North Carolina State, JC Raulston Arboretum
2004 - Leader of the Pack Summer
  -North Carolina State, JC Raulston Arboretum
2004 - Top Performer
  -WeHoP
2004 - Top Performer
  -Kansas State University