The Colour Purple

Somewhere Over The Petunia Rainbow

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Ever since we bought our first home, I have planted petunia seedlings every year. Because I grew up in a house with a huge garden, I have always aimed to have as much summer colour as possible in our own home.

Each of the Authorbloglets has been taught how to separate the seedlings from a punnet. Each has been shown how to run the punnet under a brief stream of water to make this task easier. Each has helped me over the years and each has enjoyed the startling results.

One of the joys of petunias is the mass of colour they produce, as well as their height and the rich variety of shades. But there's a funny story from the first time I planted them, almost 20 years ago. I bought six or seven punnets and simply planted them as they were, in a broad garden bed.

A couple of days later a relative blessed with green thumbs came to visit and, after he had recovered from several fits of laughter, he told me that one did not plant the entire punnet - the various seedlings had to be prised apart and planted singly.

Here's an interesting tip for gardeners. Some years ago, a friend of ours swore she would never grow petunias again because they used to grow leggy and spindly. So I passed on a tip that someone else once shared with me.

When the first few petunias bloom, remove them simply by pinching them out between your thumb and forefinger. This in turn ensures the plant grows outwards rather than upwards and ends up dense and bushy, ensuring more colour.

I guess you could say that's handy advice - at a pinch.

These petunias near our front door were bathed in full afternoon sun a few days ago, when I took these shots. Because I tend to intersperse darker colours with white petunias - purely for contrast - I thought the whites would be hard to shoot.

That's precisely why I took the first shot, with my camera among the high, wide clump of dark purple blooms. I concentrated on the outer edge of this trumpet-shaped blossom and kept it in mid-frame, just to create a "different" feel to the shot.

I then took about six or seven more shots, but I had a feeling they would not be as striking as the first frame. Do you agree?


Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.