Waving Petunias

Red House is loving these Wave Petunias.   When the heat and humidity get going, that's about when they really start to take off!  In the next picture you can see three plants that I bought from a big garden store.  I think they are Wave Blue petunias.  It's August, and they are still going strong!

 They like sun, and I fertilize them every so often, as they are heavy feeders. Now they are tending to get a little leggy, so I am experimenting with cutting some of the branches back to make the centers a little more full.  The purple really makes the orange zinnias stand out.

The skippers seem to love them:

My most pleasant surprise, however, was from the Wave Petunias that I grew from seed.  For Valentine's Day Mr. Red House had the kids pick me out some packets of seeds to go with pots that they painted.  Little girls picking out seeds = very bright pink flowers.  Red House tends to go easy on the bright pink, being red and all.  One of the packets was Wave Purple petunias, which look more pink/fuchsia to me.  Here was the result:

They were pelleted seeds, since petunia seeds are so small.  I started the seeds indoors and put them under some grow lights.  Then when it was warm enough I put them in a rather neglected sunny corner of the house that needed some love.  I actually got some seedlings mixed up and managed to put some Goldilocks Black-eyed Susan there as well.  Buried under the wave of petunias are also a couple little rose shrubs which are starting out in the Red House garden. 

They are definitely going under my list of annual seeds to grow each year.  I love the fuchsia color, though they might go out against the fence next year instead of right up against the house.  All it needs is some chartreuse!  And maybe I'll try the more mounding ones..  Already planning what plants to buy next year...