2564 



PETUNIA 



PETUNIA 



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 



2879. Petunia axillaris. ( X M) 



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 Ivs. 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 con- 

 ditions 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 unproved 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 seed- 

 lings produce doubles, but all the others are likely to 

 produce superior semi-double 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 polli- 

 nated 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, bloom- 

 ing 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 cul- 

 ture 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 set- 

 tled 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 



2880. Petunia hybrida. ( X %) 



