Cold + Bold Canada™ - Sharon Murphy - How I Came to Love the Beauty and Ease of Supertunias
How I Came to Love the Beauty and Ease of Supertunias
How I Came to Love the Beauty and Ease of Supertunias
Having grown up a greenhouse kid at the heels of my wholesale-grower dad, I came upon my plant opinions early in life.
I can tell you that Petunias were not on my list of the fabulous, but back then, their flowers weren't fragrant, they had to be deadheaded, and they were sticky. Did anyone else get coated black fingers from deadheading Petunias?
The next season of my life was spent on the island of St. Thomas, USVI where my husband and I developed a small tropical cut flower farm that supplied local florists and cruise ships.
Upon returning from that 15-year winter-free adventure, I was amazed at how Petunias had matured. I guess we both did.
While away from North American gardening, Petunia breeding programs produced trailing Petunias that worked well for landscape groundcovers and then further refined the genetics to the amazing and beautiful Supertunia varieties available today.
Supertunias can be mixed and matched and they shine in landscape, raised bed, and container gardens.
How do I know this? Well, I put aside my prejudices and experimented with them in containers, window boxes, and in my collaboration pillar project with the city of Ft. Saskatchewan, Alberta and Nordic Nurseries of Proven Winners.
And I became an enthusiastic, Supertunia convert.
Here's what I love about them:
- From a beauty perspective, Supertunia flowers can be small or large, they are bold and bright, and the colour selection is impressive.
- From a design perspective, Supertunias are versatile. There are varieties for every garden application.
- From a care perspective, there are no Petunias that equal them. Supertunias are profuse bloomers that can take the summer heat.
As with any annual, they need consistent moisture and regular fertilizing, but because they aren't sticky and they don’t need to be deadheaded - this makes Supertunias a Dream!
Here's a quick rundown on the different Supertunia types:
Supertunia Mini Vista Petunia varieties have small flowers that mimic Superbells Calibrachoa and have a mounding, clustered growth habit but they are an easier-care alternative to Calibrachoa in planters and hanging baskets, and they can be used for in-ground landscape plantings.
Standard Supertunia varieties sport medium or large flowers, have a slightly mounded growth habit and are exceptional in hanging baskets and planters and work well for in-ground plantings.
Standard Supertunias grow to lengths of 60-75 cm (24-30").
Some of my favourite Supertunia varieties are: Silver, Picasso in Purple, Saffron Finch, Honey, Latte, Persimmon, Giant Pink, Rose Veined and
Supertunia Vista varieties boast medium-sized flowers on branching stems that grow the longest of all the Supertunias, getting to lengths of 1 m (3'). Vistas shine in landscape plantings, and work well in hanging baskets and containers. They may need the occasional trim with their vigorous growth.
Some favourites from the Vista collection include: Bubblegum (super fave), Fuschia, Paradise, Silverberry, and Jazzberry.
Which are your favourites?
