Supertunia Trees at Bayview Farm and Garden

I’m sure you’ve seen all kinds of plants made in to “trees” (AKA standards or topiaries). Plant materials range from roses and Marguerite daisies to coleus and hibiscus. But, I’ll bet you’ve never seen Supertunia^® trees!

Maureen Murphy, owner of Bayview Farm and Garden on Whidbey Island, WA., created 9 standards that line the entrance to her nursery. In order to create a topiary form for a plant that has only soft tissue, Maureen had to think creatively. She started with wrought iron stands by Don Sprague Gallery (very sturdy and heavy duty). These hold a #10 Anderson pot (also very sturdy). They fill the pots with an excellent organic potting soil and then mix in about a cup of all-purpose organic fertilizer with beneficial microbes and mycorrhizae.

Next, they firm the soil into the pot and then plant a mixed color collection of nine Supertunia^® petunias. Maureen’s recipe include the following petunias: 2 Supertunia^® Royal Velvet, 2 Supertunia^® Royal Magenta, 1 Supertunia^® Giant Pink, 2 Supertunia^® Bordeaux, 1 Supertunia^® Red and 1 Supertunia^® White. These are terrific Supertunia^® petunias that grow well for them in the Pacific Northwest. Each pot is then top-dressed with about 3 tablespoons of a slow-release organic fertilizer. They water sparingly until the warm weather kicks in and then water about every other day. They are careful to monitor the water and dial down if the weather is cool and rainy.

When they're up and running in the summer, they hit them with some light balanced water-soluble fertilizer every couple of weeks. In the summer, they can take a lot of water and feed...they love the attention they get and the adoration of the customers!

After thinking about Maureen’s trees and her favorite container recipe, I decided to try one of my own. Here’s my collection of Supertunia^® petunias for a large container:

2 Supertunia^® Raspberry Blast (my favorite!)

3 Supertunia^® Mini Silver

2 Supertunia^® Double Peppermint

2 Supertunia^® Mini Appleblossom

Whatever you choose, have fun with the colors and don’t forget to feed and water them throughout the summer!