Petite Blue
Petite Blue
How to win the trust of my petite russian friend?
she is beautiful, has deep blue eyes....doest trust people easily, loves to eat out and clubbing, has travelled a lot
She's probably using you.....
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Petite Substitutes Petunias in the Annual Border
I do not like petunias. No - my prejudices are outdoors. I will not try to justify my dislike for the ubiquitous Petunia, but if you are looking for an annual flower that fill a space in the flower border, and you're tired of petunias too, here are three of my favorites.
One of my favorite substitutes is Calibrachoa petunia, which is actually a distant relative of the petunia. Calibrachoa, sold as 'Million Bells', is a plant slow growth that spreads and trails over baskets and walls, like a miniature petunia. The flowers are much smaller, however, and the leaves are thinner than Petunia. The plants continue to spread and bloom from late spring until frost in a carefree manner that any busy gardener to enjoy.
The Calibrachoa blooming in my garden has continued to look fantastic, despite several weeks of time in the upper 90s. Flowers self-cleaning, so deadheading is not necessary. Unfortunately, this also means that the Calibrachoa does not set seed, and new facilities will have to be purchased each spring since these hybrid plants are patented.
The 'Million Bells' we meet each spring at the nursery were originally part of a breeding program of research done by a Japanese company called Suntory Ltd, which now has its patent. The hybrids were bred from a plant found growing naturally in South America in 1988. These plants grow in any sunny spot where petunias are happy, but is much shorter. They are also fantastic final on the sides of hanging baskets. The plants occupy an area of at least 12 "wide or more, but to fill the garden faster than can be planted only 8".
Calibrachoa are available in shades of blue, pink, red, yellow and white.
Another of my favorite petunia substitutes is Nierembergia. This plant is also relative Far from petunias, and the star-shaped flowers do bare a vague resemblance to diminutive petunias, but the comparison should end there. This plant has finely textured leaves almost completely hidden by mounds of tiny flowers. Mine were planted this spring seed and transplanted to a sunny border that receives the hot western sun. Many other plants in their vicinity, have fallen in the heat, but the Nierembergia has been fully involved, and continues to flourish and spread.
Nierembergia is available at white, light purple and blue-violet. I sowed seeds of Nierembergia variety "Blue Mountain", which is available from Park Seed Co. Seeds of the "White Robe" and "Purple Robe" varieties are available from Stokes Seeds.
My last suggestion for a petunia substitute is the old garden favorite, Portulaca, or moss rose. This plant is also originally from South America, but is not related to petunias at all. This member of the purslane family can grow in poor soils and hot sun, provided they receive an occasional drink of water. As Nierembergia, the moss rose can easily start from seed. These plants are not doing well in shadow areas, but survive in some parts of your garden that are too hot for other plants to do well. The older varieties tend to open their flowers for only part of each day, so choose a more recent hybrid, and plant the seeds 6 to 8 weeks before last expected frost. Portulaca is Available in orange, pink, yellow and white - all colors that contrasts very well when intercropped with one of the petunia substitutes listed in this article.
About the Author
Jonni writes about gardening and life on her blog at http://www.SmallCityFarm.info