Overview
Wave® petunias solve many garden landscape color and design problems when planted in traditional containers or garden plots, alone or with other ornamental plants. For best results, plant Wave® petunias consistent with instructions from Ball Horticultural Company, supplier of the Wave® petunia family.
Each series in the Wave® petunia family shows unique height, space, growth and color attributes. Each then has different growth requirements and exhibits special colors allowing distinct color and design solutions.
Entrance Effects
- Traditional Container Plantings
Easy Wave® petunias behave by allowing other plants room to grow and show off. They provide eye-catching trailing habits and stunning color that make plantings dazzle.
Here are specifications for a 14-inch-diameter traditional planting of Easy Wave® petunias and mixed annuals:
- One 'Butterfly Deep Rose' Pentas in center;
- Two each of 'White' Easy Wave® petunias and 'Serena Lavender' Angelonia, and
- Four 'Regatta Blue' Trailing Lobelias planted alternately around container rim.
- Hanging Basket Plantings
Easy Wave®, Double Wave® and Shock Wave™ petunias exhibit great color, with only a little care. Wave® petunias of all one color and kind present the best impression in hanging baskets. Satisfy Wave® petunias need for full sun by giving hanging baskets a quarter turn every few days.
- Baskets of cascading Easy Wave® and Double Wave® petunias are easy to plant. An 18" round basket needs 10 plants evenly spaced with three in the middle and seven around the circumference; a 14" round basket requires six plants; 12" round basket, 5 plants and 10" round basket, 4 plants.
- Easy Wave® and Double Wave® petunias create globes of color in moss- or cocoa-fiber-lined baskets. Ten evenly spaced holes in the sides of an 18" round lined basket provide room for 10 more plants. Reduce numbers of side plants by 3 to 5 for small baskets. Newly planted petunias spread and mound from the center to produce full, lush balls of color.
- Use Shock Wave™ petunias in small containers and add an extra 2 to 4 plants to each container for proportion.
Curb Appeal
Original Wave® petunias are perfect groundcovers; they remain low growing, and show exceptional spread. Use them for garden and bed edges and neat flowering ground covers.
For best visual appearances, plant one Original Wave® petunia for every square foot of design. Original Wave® petunias are most effective in large areas such as a 10-foot-by-10-foot square or 4-foot-by-10-foot rectangle. Use the Clemson University Extension Service guide to measure irregularly shaped areas.
Original Wave® petunias also look good when mixed with masses of color-coordinated annuals and perennials like:
- Alternanthera dentata 'Gail's Choice' - 'Gail's Choice' upright calico plant
- Festuca glauca – blue fescue grass
- Solenostemon scutellarioides - Coleus cultivars
- Lavandula angustifolia cultivars – common lavender
- Dianthus gratianapolitanus cultivars – Cheddar pinks
- Gaura lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink' – gaura
- Perovskia atriplicifolia – Russian sage
- Pennisetum glaucum - Purple majesty millet.
Camouflage
Tidal Wave® petunias can cover fences, unattractive areas, or become lush groundcovers. They are vigorous and grow based on how closely spaced when planted.
- Close spacing, about 12 inches apart, yields tall plants. These can form dense, mounded hedges that may grow upward to about 3 ft. Supports like short chicken wire fences around air conditioners or trellises between landscape areas keep them from flopping.
- Generous spacing, anything over 12 inches apart, yields low rambling plants that may grow out to 4 feet. Tidal Wave® petunias can attractively cover slopes and even entrance areas that receive full sun.
More Landscaping Information about Wave® Petunias
©Text by Georgene A. Bramlage. Photographs courtesy of Ball Horticultural Co., Inc. 2008. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Georgene A. Bramlage - Suite 101 Landscaping Feature Writer and Topic Editor Free-lance Garden and Landscape Writer and Consultant
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