Groundcover Petunias
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by Dr. Susan Hamilton

No summer annual can be more popular than the new, spreading ‘Wave’ petunias. They have practically become a household name.

Purple Wave was the first groundcover petunia on the market, and it earned the prestigious All American Selection Award the same year it was introduced in 1992. Since then, Pink Wave, Rose Wave, Misty Lilac Wave, and the new in 2002 Lavender Wave have been introduced. Many new cultivars and colors are hot on the market and worthy of making a debut in your garden.

In addition to the Wave cultivars, be sure to check out other new groundcover petunias being marketed. These include the Tidal Wave cultivars, Double Wave cultivars, Suncatcher cultivars, Avanlanch cultivars, Ramblin cultivars, Supertunia cultivars, Trailblazer cultivars, Kahuna cultivars, Surfinia cultivars, Explorer cultivars, Cascadia cultivars, Petitunia cultivars, and Doubloon cultivars. Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee have all selected these petunias as award-winning annuals. (Tennessee selected Purple Wave petunia as a TenneSelect Winner in 1999, and look how popular it is now.). To learn more about TenneSelect and other award-winning Tennessee plants, check out their website at http://www.picktnproducts.org/tenneselect/index.html

Growth Habit
Groundcover petunias hug the ground growing only 4- to 6-inches tall and spreading up to 4 feet in width. They cover themselves in flowers from spring until frost and unlike more traditional petunias from years gone by, they are self-cleaning. This means they require no pinching, pruning or deadheading. Every shade of pink and purple is now available along with red, white, yellow and dark blue. Some cultivars may overwinter or reseed themselves in subsequent years. Other attractive features include incredible heat and drought tolerance, disease- and insect-resistance, and immunity to rain damage, which is not a characteristic of traditional petunias.

Landscape Use
Due to their trailing and spreading growth habit, groundcover petunias are great in window boxes, hanging baskets and containers and when planted in mass in flower beds. If planting in mass, plants can be positioned on 2-foot centers.

Growing Conditions
Being sun-loving, spreading petunias require at least 6 hours of full-sun to realize their full blooming potential. They thrive in moist but well-drained soil. Avoid overwatering and be sure to provide good and balanced nutrition to support their rapid growth and heavy blooming.

Propagation
Most of these petunias are sold in 4-inch containers at specialty nursery and garden centers. Don’t be surprised if you have to pay a premium price. These petunias are hot, new, in demand, and one plant can cover a 4-foot-square area!

The Wave, Tidal Wave, Kahuna, Avalanche and Trailblazer petunias can be grown from seed. Start them 8 to 10 weeks before planting in beds. The very fine dust-like seed of petunias require light for germination. Most all other series of groundcover petunias on the market are vegetatively propagated and cannot be started from seed.

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