How Not To Get Confused In The Varieties Of Petunias And Choose The Appropriate Classification. Photo

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How Not To Get Confused In The Varieties Of Petunias And Choose The Appropriate Classification. Photo
How Not To Get Confused In The Varieties Of Petunias And Choose The Appropriate Classification. Photo

Video: How Not To Get Confused In The Varieties Of Petunias And Choose The Appropriate Classification. Photo

Video: How Not To Get Confused In The Varieties Of Petunias And Choose The Appropriate Classification. Photo
Video: Selecting Petunia Varieties 2024, March
Anonim

An absolute favorite among annuals and everyone's favorite, petunia offers an unimaginable selection of varieties. With huge or small, simple or double, originally colored or classic flowers, petunias can be selected in color, shape, and according to your preferences. They simply cannot get bored, because every year the assortment is replenished with dozens of new products with improved characteristics. Choosing just a few varieties from the hundreds of options available is not an easy task. And in the selection of bright petunias for the garden, their decorative qualities are far from the most important thing.

How not to get confused in the varieties of petunias and choose the right one
How not to get confused in the varieties of petunias and choose the right one

Content:

  • An immense variety of petunias
  • Classification of petunias according to the basic characteristics of varieties
  • Commercial classification of petunias
  • A practical approach to choosing petunias
  • General principles for the selection of petunias

An immense variety of petunias

The most beloved of garden and balcony summer houses appears in flower beds, ampels and flower girls as soon as the weather permits. And he does not leave the stage until the arrival of frost. Petunias are grown for early, regular and late flowering. Petunias bloom throughout the warm gardening season, and the sowing time determines when the seedlings are ready for planting and when the first flowers appear.

Petunias have become so common in urban landscaping and garden design that they almost feel like must-have plants. But when it comes to choosing seeds or varieties, everything is not so simple: petunias are very different and often completely different from each other both in their practical characteristics and in decorativeness.

Today, from bright labels, catalogs and advertisements, you can learn about a very diverse types of petunias, which can make even experienced gardeners dizzy. The varieties are combined into groups of varieties, separate collections and even variety mixtures are produced, not to mention the selected stars with the status of elite hybrids.

Some petunias are presented as ampelous or integumentary, others as garden or potted, still others as container or for flower girls, and still others as universal. In fact, the variety of petunias is not at all so great and difficult, but it is still easier to understand the classification than it seems.

All petunias that can be found on sale, in seed catalogs and as seedlings are hybrid plants that have undergone long-term selection in order to improve their decorative characteristics. Species plants, like the old "first" varieties, have been ousted from the market by bright novelties, the number of which is replenished every year.

Petunias reproduce quite easily and are perhaps the most beloved annuals for experiments with their characteristics. All prestigious gardening firms and selection centers present their exclusive novelties at the main flower shows of the year.

Due to the fact that the number of petunia varieties has long exceeded a thousand, it is better to navigate in their diversity according to the basic characteristics of the variety

Bushy (upright) petunia
Bushy (upright) petunia
Creeping (ampelous) petunia
Creeping (ampelous) petunia

Classification of petunias according to the basic characteristics of varieties

According to the form of growth or type of shoots, petunias are divided into:

  • bushy (upright) petunias;
  • creeping (hanging, ampelous varieties).

By the height of the bushes:

  • large, with shoots up to 80 cm long;
  • medium, with a height or diameter of about half a meter;
  • dwarf (undersized) petunias with a spherical bush, about 15-20 cm in height and in diameter.

By flower size:

  • large-flowered (from 8-9 cm);
  • ordinary (from 5 to 7 cm);
  • small-flowered varieties (from 2 to 4 cm).

By flower shape:

  • classical (gramophone) with smooth edges of the petals;
  • terry;
  • semi-double;
  • corrugated;
  • fringed varieties.

By color:

  • plain;
  • watercolor (with soft transitions and washes of color shades, the effect of color spreading without contrasting spots);
  • variegated;
  • bordered;
  • with a dark spot in the pharynx;
  • painted varieties.

According to the degree of endurance:

The possibilities of using petunia varieties in the garden only in sheltered places or in open soil and stone flower girls are determined by their degree of hardiness. According to this parameter, petunias are divided into two types:

1. Low-resistant varieties, flowers, and sometimes shoots of which are sensitive to getting wet.

2. Hardy petunias, flowers of which are not afraid of precipitation.

Separation of varieties according to the main classification:

The main classification of petunias divides them into only two types of varieties:

1. Upright petunias are bushy plants with straight shoots that develop in the form of dense compact cushion bushes that do not create a canopy on the soil and a cascade in hanging baskets.

2. Creeping petunias are plants that, thanks to long shoots drooping in ampels and creeping along the soil, are able to cover a large vertical or horizontal area. Today, creeping petunias are often divided into cover and ampelous, but in fact we are talking about the same varieties, they just play the role of a ground cover on the soil, and hanging baskets - a hanging plant.

Petunia Grandiflora (Grandiflora)
Petunia Grandiflora (Grandiflora)
Petunia multiflora (Multiflora)
Petunia multiflora (Multiflora)
Petunia milliflora (Milliflora)
Petunia milliflora (Milliflora)

Commercial classification of petunias

When it comes to choosing in catalogs and on seed counters, such simple classifications are indispensable. Dozens of terms that complicate the choice, in fact, are designed to indicate the main, distinctive characteristics of varieties. And if you see additional names, thanks to the study of the main categories of petunias, you can more easily navigate in their characteristics.

Depending on the combination of different signs of petunias (for commercial purposes), it is customary to divide them into four classes:

1. Grandiflora (Grandiflora) - bush varieties with flowers from 7 to 13 cm in diameter, usually with medium bushes and a wide variety of classical gramophone varieties.

2. Multiflora (Multiflora) - multi-flowered bush varieties of petunias with compact dense bushes and medium-sized flowers with a diameter of 4 to 7 cm.

3. Milliflora (Milliflora) - compact bush petunias with small flowers from 2 to 4 cm in diameter.

4. Floribunda (Floribunda) - medium varieties about 30 cm high with elongated shoots and medium flowers with a diameter of 5 to 8 cm, characterized by increased resistance.

The four main classes, in turn, are divided into hundreds of groups. Special series of petunias with improved characteristics are now distributed under independent names that have become international trademarks, and from a simple group of varieties have evolved into separate categories of petunias. These include:

  • supertunia (Supertunia) - large ampelous varieties with shoots up to 2 m in length and very bright large flowers;
  • Surfinia (Surfinia) - charming annuals with large flowers from 5 to 9 cm and shoots that can grow up to 2 m in length and a rich selection of all shades of white-pink-blue gamut without warm tones (they are considered one of the best early-flowering, hardy and fast growing varieties of petunias);
  • fortunia (Fortunia) - a series of compact, abundantly flowering ampelous petunias with flowers about 5 cm in diameter;
  • pendulas, or ampelous petunias (pendula) - varieties with thin, hanging, flexible shoots, ideal for vertical gardening or as a ground cover;
  • cascading petunias (Cascade) are densely bushy varieties with more powerful, exceeding a meter in length, capable of creating flowering waterfalls with their shoots, which at first develop as erect, and then droop more and more (the bushes simultaneously grow up, down and to the sides, due to which the petunias create more beautiful and harmonious, fountain-like huge cascades);
  • fimbriates, or fringed petunias (Fimbriata) - varieties with elegant fringes along the edges of the petals;
  • frillithunia (Frillytunia) - varieties with pronounced corrugations on the petals;
  • superbissima (Superbissima) - varieties with a wavy edge of flowers strikingly wide in the throat;
  • picoti (Picotee) - petunias with a contrasting white border around the edges of the flowers;
  • partitunia (Partitunia) - semi-ampelous abundant flowering varieties with a very dense arrangement of flowers, creating a kind of clouds;
  • minitunias (Minitunia) - small-flowered ampelous petunias with shoots up to 1 m in length.
Petunia Supertunia
Petunia Supertunia
Petunia Surfinia (Surfinia)
Petunia Surfinia (Surfinia)
Ampel petunia (pendula)
Ampel petunia (pendula)

Calibrachoa is not petunia

Relatives of petunias or pseudopetunias do not simplify the selection process. On the market, along with numerous hybrids of petunias, plants of another species appear, which are often mistakenly called only forms and varieties of petunias. They belong to an independent genus - fashionable, bright and surprisingly hardy calibrachoa.

Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa) - the closest relative of petunias, which for its abundance and touching is not accidentally nicknamed "a thousand bells". Able to form amazingly beautiful cascades, this annual star with flexible, but well branching and woody at the base shoots, 80 cm to 2 m long, conquers with the number of flowers, under which greenery is practically invisible, and the most outlandish colors, including yellow-orange -brown variations and various patterns.

The undoubted advantages of calibrachoa are resistance to precipitation, versatility, abundant color and ease of formation. But she has almost no shortcomings. These include only the small size of the flowers, the exactingness of feeding and only vegetative methods of reproduction.

Calibrachoa is not petunia
Calibrachoa is not petunia

A practical approach to choosing petunias

In order not to get confused in the choice of varieties and types of petunias, as well as to easily navigate the presented assortment, it is worthwhile to determine the correct guidelines for yourself in advance.

First of all, when choosing a variety, you need to formulate the task that the plant is designed to perform. Before exploring the range of available garden petunias, consider why you need petunia, where and how you will use it, from the garden or balcony it will decorate to the container it will grow in and its intended neighbors. …

Knowing the goal makes it much easier to find a remedy. Even if you have only a rough idea that you want to plant petunias along the front edge of a flower garden or use for a pot garden, a general idea will help you a lot in choosing varieties.

Break down the entire selection process into several steps. And having decided on each of them, you can find the plant you need much faster. When choosing a petunia variety for your garden, try to answer a few questions:

1. What kind of petunia growth do you need - upright or creeping?

2. Will petunia be grown in open soil or in any type of container?

3. Is the size of the bushes and the length of the shoots important - do you need large, massive or compact mini-varieties?

4. Will petunia be weather-susceptible - sheltered from precipitation or open space?

5. Is there a need for earlier flowering?

6. Does the set decorative task - the role of the plant in the composition - determine the specific characteristics of the variety:

  • large or small flowering;
  • normal or super-abundant flowering;
  • dark, light or medium colors;
  • the specific color that needs to be added to the composition;
  • the classical shape or the desired originality of the flowers;
  • is it permissible to use plants with an unusual color, etc.
For vertical, hanging gardens and flowering walls, only ampelous varieties of petunias are used
For vertical, hanging gardens and flowering walls, only ampelous varieties of petunias are used

The criteria for selecting varieties of petunias in practice are easier to apply than in theory:

1. If a potted garden will be decorated with petunias, then you will need bushy plants for ordinary pots, ampelous - for replanting to tubs and other plants.

2. For flower girls and large flowerpots choose bush petunias.

3. When decorating balconies, bush petunias are planted in common containers and boxes, if the plant is used to decorate the edge of the container or hang baskets, then hanging ampel varieties are better suited.

4. To decorate the soil of flower beds, ridges and spots, large and medium bush petunias are used, except for cases when they fill empty soil or create carpets or carpet mixborders from them (in these cases, the choice should be made on creeping varieties).

5. For borders, the choice should be stopped on medium-sized or dwarf bush petunias.

6. For vertical, hanging gardens and flowering walls, only ampel varieties of petunias are used.

7. For single hanging baskets, choose cascading varieties of ampel petunias.

Cascade petunia (Cascade)
Cascade petunia (Cascade)
Petunia fimbriata, or fringed (Fimbriata)
Petunia fimbriata, or fringed (Fimbriata)
Petunia Picotee
Petunia Picotee

General principles for the selection of petunias

There are several more general principles for the selection of varieties for a given design task:

  • the more secluded the place, the duller the site, the more inconspicuous the background - the more suitable large-flowered petunias;
  • ground flower girls, pots and containers installed on the floor are best decorated with large-flowered rather than small-flowered petunias, and vice versa - for containers located at eye level;
  • any capacity on feet containers on trays, raised planters and original racks are more suitable for ampelnyh petunias;
  • small-colored petunias are more suitable for decorating the facade of the house and its walls, creating flowering walls on the terrace;
  • small containers and pots are more suitable for terry varieties than options for large compositions, such plants need to be able to transport;
  • the more open the place and the higher the risk of getting wet, the more small-flowered variety is preferable;
  • for the foreground and such containers that you can admire close up, it is better to choose terry or original varieties;
  • if it is difficult to decide, always choose the most hardy plants with "average" characteristics.

When it comes to choosing petunia varieties, new is always the best. The latest novelties on the market usually surprise not only with the shades or characteristics of the flowers, but also with practical qualities. Therefore, it is often necessary to hunt for fashionable and newly appeared varieties. If there is a question of choosing between similar varieties, then it is always worth choosing a petunia of a later selection.

Faced with a huge choice, it is worth paying attention to the simplest criteria. First of all, when choosing seeds, you need to pay attention to the dates and periods of storage, the availability of information about the manufacturer and the completeness of the characteristics of the plant.

When buying seedlings, especially a new variety, you should immediately make sure that the bushes are healthy and well-groomed, with no visible traces of damage or improper watering, with strong roots. Once the basic characteristics are assessed, it is worth paying attention to:

  • the height of the variety and the maximum height or length of the shoots;
  • the specified bush shape;
  • the recommended way to use petunia;
  • description of color and flowers;
  • instructions for agricultural technology and care.

Choosing a petunia variety for a garden can seem like a complicated and boring process. But the main thing in it is not to forget about the purpose of buying plants and rely on your taste. Petunias are bright plants, and choosing those varieties, colors and shapes that are closer to the hearts of the owners is always the best option. After all, such plants bring more joy than any fashionable novelties.

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