The best thing for flowers...

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

When we got to our Pa. camp late this year we went to buy flowers for the 2 flowers beds . All the nursery in town had left were 2 pink geraniums and petunias that were really scraggly looking.I bought the geraniums and they gave me a flat of petunias 24 of them. I planted all in Miracle grow soil and crossed my fingers thinking it was not going to be a very good flower year. Since we planted those sad looking flowers we have had a remarkable amount of rain.In the 3 weeks probably only a few days have not had rain and the sun has only shined all day those few days.I would think this lack of sun would have been bad for the already scraggly flowers but I'd be oh so wrong.They are growing like no tomorrow and absolutely filled with blooms.I've never seen prettier petunias in my life! The geraniums , so far , seem to be wanting to grow their plants instead of flowers so they are large & healthy looking but scant flowers. Clearly, though, there is no amount of watering with a hose that can take the place of rain on petunias.I wonder what is in the rain water that they like so much.

marmot24 · ‎03-12-2010

HI..glad to see you're back in the burg for summer. I agree about the petunias. Mine also are growing like mad. Planted my usual 4oclocks and they are taking over. Completely covered my blueberry bushes, tho they are only 3 seasons old. Yet another storm last night..feel so sorry for the folks dealing with flooding. Enjoy your summer here.

AngelPuppy1 · ‎03-13-2010

Awesome! You just can't beat petunias! We have great luck with marigolds, too! Anything else we buy seems to be hit or miss!!!

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." - Steve Martin

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

My mother used to grow the most spectacular geraniums - I've never had any luck with them.

Trix · ‎03-16-2010

@151949, Rain water is great, but those petunias actually really wanted to get out of those confining little pots of the flats they had been in since spring, and into the ground where they could spread out. They would have responded well even if the weather had been dry in the good soil in the ground with you watering.

Give them a pinch so that they don't get to leggy in August. The geraniums should be fine until October.

software · ‎06-08-2016

Found this in Science magazine from May 2017:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that U.S. flower distributors have begun to destroy countless petunia plants after federal scientists confirmed that they were genetically engineered (GE) to produce vivid orange, red, and purple blooms. The agency says the flowers pose no risk to the environment or to human health, but GE organisms need special permits to be sold in the United States.

Distributors apparently imported or bred the flowers without realizing the plants had been GE. On 2 May, the Germany-based horticultural firm Selecta Klemm informed USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that it had moved a GE orange petunia into the United States, according to a statement issued by USDA. (Petunias aren’t naturally orange.) “This led to testing by USDA of numerous petunia varieties, which confirmed this particular variety and several others are indeed GE and meet our regulatory definition of a regulated article under APHIS regulations,” the department stated. “Several distributors have already voluntarily removed GE petunias from distribution and destroyed them.”

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Trix When you deadhead petunias do you take off the whole bud including the seed pod that is forming or just the spent flower? My Mom always said to take the entire bud.

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

@151949 wrote:
@Trix When you deadhead petunias do you take off the whole bud including the seed pod that is forming or just the spent flower? My Mom always said to take the entire bud.

Whole bud.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@proudlyfromNJ wrote:
@151949 wrote:
@Trix When you deadhead petunias do you take off the whole bud including the seed pod that is forming or just the spent flower? My Mom always said to take the entire bud.
Whole bud.

Yeah, see, my neighbor said I was ruining them but my mom always said if you allow them to make seed they will stop blooming because the point of the flower is to make seed. I always snip or pinch off the whole bud.

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@CelticCrafter wrote:
My mother used to grow the most spectacular geraniums - I've never had any luck with them.

For me, other than dead heading, geraniums are self sufficient. They do love sun.

Last year for Fathers' Day, I took to 2 pots to the cemetary. When we returned in September, they were still blooming profusely. There was no one there to water them but God.