Petunias Wave Hello Again

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Difficult for me to believe that I've been up since 4:30, it's now almost 11 AM and I'm still feeling behind in my schedule for today. Weekends here at Vermont Flower Farm are busy no matter now deep the snow is. I'm feeling a little better today but this cold virus that finally caught up with me seems to take a lot of energy with it. Hopefully in a couple more days I'll be back in shape.

I finally got to the second set of bird feeders this morning, half shoveling, half wading through the snow. I put fresh suet out and got the feeders filled save for the thistle feeder. I don't have to fill that one as often and can't recall where I left the bag of seed. The deep snows have forced scores of new birds here and they clean out everything in little more than a day. If you know what it costs for bird seed now, you have a good grasp of how much I enjoy the wild birds.

Yesterday I finished up a post on Wave Petunias but it appeared before the one named Feathered Flyers. That's because I started the petunia thoughts a few days back and never remembered where I left off until yesterday. Go back to that if you aren't on the email subscriber list as you probably haven't read it yet.

My point today is just to show what you can do with the Wave Petunias which are offered from Ball Horticultural Company. That's the company that produces the seed for these petunias no matter where you live or where you buy your plants. All these pictures enlarge with a simple "click". All the pictures are made available from Ball for promotion of their products. The pictures have been taken at various trial and display gardens they are affiliated with.

Planting the displays you see pictured here are slightly more difficult when you move into zones four or three because it's colder in the spring and it takes longer to get the plants well established. Some people try to purchase advanced packs and slightly over plant their containers or gardens to get them to fill in more quickly. It's actually a better approach than to try to add extra fertilizer and then end up with leggy plants that do not stand up well.

Because these petunias self prune, they flower all summer and will bring you lots of compliments. Planted within your gardens they spread nicely and draw quick attention to parts of your garden you wish to highlight. As you work you way through these pictures you'll notice

how easy it is to create dramatic compositions with annuals of different heights and textures. Perennials such as echinacea, helenium, or rudbeckia can serve as good back drops as can hollyhocks or any of the acteas.
We have seen an interest in dark black and brown foliages in recent years and that stark contrast as in the previous picture make the petunias stand out. You could accomplish the same thing with other annuals but petunias by the nature of their growth habit fill in quickly and are inexpensive.


Four blue jays are feeding outside my window right now but one new one is looking straight at me and shouting indeciferable jay language. I fear he is challenging my apparent laziness and that's enough for me. Back to the snow shovel for me!


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where the heavy snows of last Valentines Day can remain a memory that doesn't ever repeat itself as far as I am concerned.

Good catalog and magazine gardening today,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Waves of Snow, Waves of Petunias

Friday, February 8, 2008

Morning greetings from Vermont where in this part of the state, the temperature is 19 degrees and the snow banks make shoveling for kids and less tall people a vertical challenge! For me there's a list of overdue assignments such as updating Vermont Gardens and The Vermont Gardener.

The past couple weeks have been hectic with work in Montpelier on the autism legislation, a radio appearance in Burlington, an unplanned dental day with Alex, two snowstorms worth an accumulative 2 feet, two ice storms and a sick dog. Karl the wonder dog has been sick again and he spent last Friday and Friday night at the vets hitched to IVs and feeling pretty bad. Remember that this dog is not always on my "Best Buddy List" but when he's down and out my sympathies reign.

I think we are back on the right track as I have been throughly chastised about the dilimma. I have also been warned about the consequences of feeding a dog "non-traditional dog food products" which translates to loading him up at meal time on whatever is close to my plate or just inside the refrigerator door. The vet said that when she spun his blood for a cholesterol check, he broke the 220 mark with ease. Saying that I gave Karl part of a cheeseburger and a couple fries didn't cut it and as I fessed up I just buried myself deeper and deeper into the origins of the poor dog's health. Probably the final score was when it was suggested that I could probably tie my boots easier if I'd put myself on the same "good food only" diet. I have always loved paying pockets of money to be reminded that I'm doing something wrong but that's how things work.

I have mentioned before that I belong to the Garden Writers Association Gail always questions the annual membership fee but she's often asking a bunch of "Where'd this come from?" as she opens packages of promotional garden materials, CDs and products. By virtue of belonging, companies make the assumption that if you think you can write, perhaps you will write about them and as such they shoot things your way. Mercedes cars and the companies that make new pickups with snow plows that don't need a hydraulic fluid change apparently don't read gardening articles as I have yet to see a car carrier unloading a freebee in the drive. Just the same, the relationship is worth it and CDs are frequent gifts. That makes sense because pictures sell and there's no better way to get your new flowers out there than to give a grower like me Internet ready pictures.

A month ago a CD arrived from Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, Illinois.This is a
very old, well established , stalwart of the horticultural world. They have incredible development credentials and produce scores of new flower varieties each year. The recent CD was on petunias and there's another that just arrived on geraniums and marigolds.

I'm sure you are familiar with their registered Wave Petunias which have been out for a few years now. These are the vigorous petunias that come in a rainbow of colors and do not need pinching. They look terrific when mass planted in the ground and they flow out of containers all over the place, held back only by container types and imagination.

One of the great things about Wave petunias is how inexpensive they are in comparison to the rich look they provide. You can buy them in flats at your favorite greenhouse or you can make arrangements to buy some in quantity in plug trays. Regardless of your method of purchase, you'll have quick color that will last until a good frost. If you paint a landscape with broad stripes of color, you quickly hear a number of "How'd you do that's?" which translate to good sales.


Here at Vermont Flower Farm we have never grown annuals for sale. Each year customers stop and ask for this or that and we refer them to greenhouses nearby like Grahams, Amanda's or Cabot Greenhouse. I'm not going to say that we won't sell annuals at our new location some time but right now we'll leave it up to the people who have experience doing it best. In the meantime, as you work your way through the part of winter when weather patterns are in flux and outside gardening is still a dream, check out gardening magazines, visit greenhouses, go to garden shows and think about Ball's Wave petunias. It all began in 1995 with Wave Purple but today there are many more great choices to make your garden "the garden" for friends to visit.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where this morning's bird visitors wait in nearby treetops, ruffling feathers in displays of dissatisfaction for slow-to-get-going George, his shovel and bucket of seed.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm