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Petunia (Petun, South American aboriginal name, said to have been
applied to tobacco). Solanaceae. Petunia. Small herbs, grown for
their showy bloom as garden annuals.
Annual or perennial, branching, viscid-pubescent, of weak or
straggling growth: lvs. alternate, or opposite above, soft, entire:
fls. white or purple, or in shades of reddish, on solitary, terminal
or axillary peduncles; calyx deeply 5-parted, the lobes narrow or
often foli- aceous; corolla funnelform or salverform, the tube long
and nearly or quite straight and sitting loosely in the calyx, the
limb broad and normally 5-lobed, unequal or oblique and in some
species obscurely 2-lipped; stamens 5, attached in the tube, one of
them sometimes sterile; ovary small, 2-celled, the style slender, the
stigma dilated and sometimes obscurely 2-lobed.—There are 12 or more
species of Petunia, mostly natives of the southern part of S. Amer.
One or two grow in Mex. and another (P. parviflora) is naturalized in the southern parts of the U. S., and is found frequently on ballast about seaports. The genus is closely allied to Salpiglos- sis, being distinguished by 5 perfect stamens, whereas that genus has 4 stamens and lvs. narrow or usually dentate or pinnatifid.
Garden petunias are small soft plants of straggling or decumbent
habit, pubescent and usually more or less sticky, with large showy
flowers. The colors are white to light purple, not blue, clear red,
nor yellow. They are properly perennial, but are treated as annuals
in cultivation. The common kinds are rather weedy in habit, but their
great profusion of bloom under all conditions makes them useful and
popular. They are particularly useful for massing against shrubbery,
for they make a florid undergrowth with almost no care. Some of the
modern improved named varieties are very choice plants. Petunias emit
a powerful fragrance at nightfall, and sphinx-moths visit them.
The varieties of present-day gardens are considered to be hybrids and
modifications of two-stem types. The types were white-flowered in one
case and rose- violet in the other, and the flowers were small. In
some of the garden strains, the flower is very broad and open,
measuring 4 or 5 inches across. There are types with the flowers
deeply fringed; others with star-like markings radiating from the
throat and extending nearly or quite to the margin of the limb;
others with full double flowers.
Petunias should begin to bloom about two or two and one-half months
after sowing in the open and continue profusely till killed by hard
frost (the first light frosts usually do not injure them). The plants
are at first erect, but soon begin to sprawl. The highest blooms of
mature but sprawled plants will stand 18 to 24 inches above the
ground. There are very dwarf and compact kinds, but they are not much
seen in this country.
Varieties or strains naturally fall into the small- flowered and
large-flowered classes. The former are singles and are mostly used
for bedding or massing. Some of the small lilac-limbed kinds are
apparently very closely related to the stem-species, P. violacea,
possibly direct derivatives of it. Countess of Ellesmere, Rosy Morn,
and similar ones are among the best rosy or pink kinds for edgings
and hanging-baskets and window- boxes. Large-flowered petunias are
double or single, fringed, ruffled, fluted, and otherwise modified, some of them having deep velvety colors of great richness and flowers of much substance.
There are marbled, spotted, and penciled flowers among them.
Double forms are produced by crossing the most double flowers that
are capable of producing good pollen on the best single strains. Only
a part of the seedlings produce doubles, but all the others are
likely to produce superior semidouble and single forms. Single
flowers carefully pollinated from double flowers will produce seed
which will average 25 per cent doubles, and single flowers bearing
petaloid anthers similarly pollinated will give an average as high as
40 per cent doubles. The weaker seedlings are most likely to give
full double flowers.
Petunias thrive on both ordinary and rich soil, blooming well on land
too rich for other plants, and some of the bedding and small kinds
doing well even on poor soil with plenty of moisture. They are
sun-loving plants, although they bloom well in partial shade. The
culture is simple and easy. Seeds may be sown directly in the open,
or the plants may be started in flats or pots indoors for early
results. The plants are tender and therefore should not be trusted in
the open until settled weather comes. The high-bred types require
more care in the growing. They would best be started indoors, and be
given the choicest positions in the open garden. Extra care should be
given to the germination, for every seed that is lost may mean the
loss of a form unlike any other; for these high-class petunias are
not fixed into definite seed-varieties to any extent. Usually the
weakest plants in the lot of seedlings will produce the choicest
results among the high-bred single and double strains, the strongest
seedlings tending to make weedy plants. Transplanting is recommended for the high- bred fringed and double strains, as well as for early bloom. The seeds are small and should be covered lightly in well-pulverized soil. On ordinary soil, petunias may be thinned or transplanted to 10 or 12 inches apart each way; but on fertile soil, and particularly with the
larger-growing forms, the distance may be as much as 15 to 18 inches.
Young petunia plants are very susceptible to frost. It is well to
pull out some of the least desirable plants as they grow and begin to
crowd. The stronger common strains of petunia are likely to self-sow
or volunteer (come up themselves in the spring from seed). Fancy
kinds are sometimes propagated by cuttings or slips from plants
carried over winter, after the manner of geraniums. The best double
strains particularly are often perpetuated by cuttings. There are no
special insects or diseases attacking the petunia.
Winter bloom is easy to secure from petunias under glass. Best, or at
least quickest, results are secured from cuttings; these may be taken
from good shoots in late September or early October from selected
outdoor plants, and bloom should be secured by February 1. If plants
are grown from seeds, the sowing should take place in late summer,
for seedlings grow slowly in the short days of fall and winter; the
seedlings should be handled in pots. Sometimes old plants that are
not spent are lifted in the fall and cut back, and the new growth
will give good winter bloom. Petunias under glass require cool
treatment, a night temperature of 45° to 50° suiting them well. A
somewhat warmer treatment than that given carnations may be expected
to produce satisfactory results.
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