I started two full flats of old-fashioned vining petunias to plant out on my balcony this year and all I can say is...WOW!!! Many are now starting to form buds and bloom and the fragrance, even under my measly fluorescent light set-up and dry home air, is delicious. It is stronger, sweeter and spicier than any other petunia I have smelled, and it becomes stronger and purer and sweeter in the evening/night. I can't wait to see what they will do this summer. I obtained my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange.
I have had other people smell them and they are all floored that such a beautiful scent would come from a petunia! The colors are beautiful, too...many shades of white, pale pink, rose pink, lavender and purple. They all seem to glow in the light. Is anybody else growing these this year?
Old-Fashioned Vining Petunias
Ispahan
Please advise your seed source as I would love to order some.
Thanks,
Judy
These are the exact seeds I ordered:
http://www.seedsavers.org/prodinfo.asp?number=53(OG)
Mine are volunteers, dropped by birds, from a garden on the next block :))
billyporter - Please direct birds to my house. lol lol
Ispahan - thank you so very much for the link
Judy
PS Grrrrr The forecast is for lows in the middle 20's Fri-Sun and I have too much planted, about to bloom etc.
If I knew which bird did it I'd ask :))
Looks like most zones are in the 20's this week. Me too. The wind is blowing right now!
My Dad still grows the pale old fashioned ones that Mom planted when I was little. They just kept reseeding. Mom even had me remove about a foot of dirt and replace it because she didn't like them anymore. They're still there. Mine are a deep purple.
You are going to get some of your Dad's to go with yours, aren't you, only seems right.
Judy
That is too funny. I was first inspired to purchase these because they reminded me of my grandfather's house where they would reseed themselves year after year. My grandfather never once paid attention to them and yet they always seemed to thrive beyond belief. I could never imagine anyone growing tired of them, LOL!
Judy, not yet. As long as he's there to enjoy them I'll wait. I may have to get DH to build me a box planter for them. At home they grow in a 4' tall, 5' x 5' cement, plastered over brick, planter. I think it was there when they bought the house. I don't know who made it, but I always thought it was cool.
I ordered them, got them, haven't planted them yet -- not enough room inside, too cold outside. sounds like I picked a winner, though. Hope they'll sprout.
I think you can still sow them outdoors, possibly even now. That way they will germinate as soon as the temperatures are warm enough and all other conditions are right. The petunias that reseeded at my grandfather's house never seemed to mind the cold and were usually in bloom by June every year. Did you get yours from Seed Savers Exchange?
I have been crowing about these petunias for years- lol! Glad to see others are discovering them and can enjoy them. Most all the heirloom petunias smell nice. I grow several diff. types and they all smell like the OFV. You can get the seeds at SSE and several other places, which names escape me at the moment.
Hey, I am so glad I found this thread. I ordered those petunias right away , along with several other things of course. I am feeling needy, as my garden was devastated by 21 degree low on Sat. night. All together we had 5 cold clear nights. Heartbreaking in a way. We used to live in Charleston when I was little, and my Mama grew those petunias and four-o-clocks, and my Dad grew castor beans. I'm trying to recreate a fragrant Charleston garden. Thanks for the link. Mick
Oh I'm just thrilled to see this. My Grandmama use to have these growing in her yard. Oh they were gorgeous! I was only a yun'un back then, but I sure did love them. Do you know if I can just sprinkle them in a container, or do they have to be sown under lights? I'm no good with seeds, but if I can just sprinkle them out in my flower pot, then maybe * even * I could grow some. :)
Hi IO1/elaine!
You just sprinkle the seed wherever you want 'em to grow. I'd sow them ASAP if I were you. Don't cover them at all- just give a light sprinkling of water. "Pets" are very easy to germinate.
I have several petunia plants that overwintered and have been blooming since March!
LOL! Good luck and let us know how they do for you Elaine!
I am so glad other people are growing these, too! I am still amazed by the fragrance.
Hiya Billyporter ~ why don't you pick a few seeds of your Dads' petunias. They seed freely and he will have plenty for him too. pod
I might. I have the darker colored volunteers here and there. His are the pale colors. I need a place to put them so they will stay in one place.
When my Dad was little, he was leaning against the old tire his Mom had some planted in and he heard a hummingbird by his ear. He never forgot what it sounded like and I think that's why he didn't want Mom to get rid of them. Of course, they had a mind of their own and have survived for 50 years.
Billyporter, that would make them heirloom petunias ~ what a great memory too!
I just bought a couple of trailing petunias. I had never seen them before... purple but unfortunately no fragrance. : (
I actually grow these with my tomatoes: they creep up the cages and are supposed to be "good companions." Love them. This year, they're going more places. Got my seeds at J.L. Hudson, I think.
I was at Dad's and we were looking at his petunias. The ''planter'' is an old gas lantern supply box. I never knew that. I thought someone made a brick planter and covered it with cement. I'll have to get a picture when the petunias are blooming in it.
Podster, I have the trailing petunia also. I was a little disappointed there was no fragrance, however, the foliage has a sort of 'green' scent, have you noticed?
BTW, they are very easy to propagate. I stuck two little sprigs in a 2 liter container with MG moisture control, peat moss and sand mixed in it. They are both rooted and growing in a matter of 2-3 weeks!
podster and shortstuff,
Just wanted to say that if you have a trailing petunia that has no fragrance then it is not an old-fashioned or heirloom type petunia. There are several types that look similar but these pets are known for their fabulous scent.
The deep purple "wave" pets seem to consistantly have that nice spicey scent...not during the heat of the day but when the temps drop some come night fall.
How fun to see this thread surface again. I was out early this AM and I was able to smell these trailing petunias. Well DUH, I knew it had to be morn or nite for them to be stronger. LOL
I was at a local Home Depot recently very early in the morning and I am surprised to report that the regular white Supertunia cultivar (not the mini) has a very strong and pleasant fragrance as well. I could smell it from at least 15 feet away on a cool and breezy morning. It was a very sweet and transparent scent and nothing like the rich, spicy headiness of my old-fashioned vining petunias (which are now blooming their fool heads off and growing like mad outdoors). Different, but beautiful nonetheless.
I *have* noticed that the purple 'Wave' petunias have a scent, but I always thought it to be quite coarse and unpleasant, not at all like the wonderful petunia fragrance that I grew up with. Too bad, because it really is a tough, easy to grow plant.
Ispahan - I'll have to go check those out...I think that's the key to judge their scent early morning or in the evening!! Hmmm...now that I think about it the purple ones I have in my container aren't the Wave type...I know I had them at some point though...would be good to compare them to the ones in my basket from Flower Scent Gardens.
Ispahan and Berrygirl, I planted my seed from seedsaver and they are coming up like crazy.I also went into a local, family owned nursery a couple of weeks ago and they had the big , blowsy old fashioned type petunias. I bought a flat each of red , pink, white and purple. I planted them in pots around the front entrance of my house and the scent would about make you weep. I also bought some very fragrant pink ones at Walmart before Mothers Day . I love the look of the Wave petunias in the store but they do not do at all well for me at home in my climate and they do not smell good. I hope the smelly good ones are regaining their popularity. I can't wait until my heirloom trailing petunias bloom. Think I'll step outside the front door for a whiff. Chantell, I'd stick with the most fragrant ones, you have scent and beauty.
My plants are now kicking into high gear and growing and flowering like crazy. The fragrance each evening is wonderful. They are so beautiful and so fragrant! I have been diligent about deadheading for the past couple of weeks, but I can see that this will soon turn into a huge chore once the 50 million little side branches coming up from each plant reach maturity and start blossoming in a few weeks. Oh well, I guess beauty has its price... :-) The upside is that I find the smell of petunia foliage to be rather pleasant (brings back memories) and my hands are covered with it every time I deadhead.
His petunias aren't blooming yet, but they have been in this planter since I was little. We were the only ones in town with a gas lantern supply box.
I now have to have Dad's petunias!!!
This past weekend, several of my neighbors commented that they could smell my petunias from about 150 feet away. Most of them did not even realize they were petunias until I told them and I was delighted to see the look of surprise on their faces as well as hear their exclamation "Those are petunias?!"
I really do have to say that these are among the most fragrant of all annuals I have ever grown. And not only is the scent powerful and wafting, but it is also rich, delicious and addictive. It has been such a treat to come home in the evening after work and be greeted by this wonderful perfume pouring forth from countless, delicate, cheerful blooms.
This message was edited Jun 4, 2007 8:27 AM
The old-fashioned ones seem to require a lot less fertilizing than the "wave" types, which need bloom feeder all the time.
I thought someone said the trailing wave blue petunias didn't have a scent? I went outside last night to get the dog bowls, about 10 pm or so, and was overwhelmed by a lily scent. It smelled similar to my stargazers. Except they have all bloomed and lost their petals and are done for the season (I still had to look over at the patio table and see because it was strong). I suddenly though of the petunias because of this thread. They have been going crazy because of the rain and are spilling over beautifully. Sure enough! It was the petunias! Thank you for this thread because I probably wouldn't have realized the delightful scent was coming from there. I have double petunias in front and those smell when I come home from work too about 6pm. I love frangrance. I think I am now hooked on petunias and am going to try to find more!
I didn't see this thread in time to order the seed Saver's petunias, but everytime I go to a garden center I ask for "fragrant petunias"..do you know the sales staff knows right where to take me? They have had this question/request before. AND do you know they are sold out of "that particular kind" each place I go?
I think these are going to be very popular in the coming years.
My grand idea is to plant some fragrant ones near my wave-types and see if I can get self-sown seedlings coming up with both fragrance and robust growth. But just in case, I'll still buy the seeds from SS X
Suzy
I guess I'm reviving this thread. Earlier this spring I noticed that all my blue/purple petunias that I had purchased at the local nursery and/or HD and Lowe's had a wonderful fragrance -- almost vanilla-like. Most of these petunias were mixed in with other colors and none of the other colors had a scent, although they all seemed to be the same variety, just different colors. I must have looked a little strange sticking my nose into every petunia flat at the nursery checking the scent! When summer heat came (way too early hereabouts) I bought several wave petunias both in pink and purple but, alas, no fragrance! Just checked the box with the purple wave's on my deck and definitely no scent. Why would only the purple petunias have a scent?
Hopefully someone has an answer for you Julie. I know that I have to hit the stores early evening and do the "scent" test much like you described. The only ones, so far, that I've found to have that wonderful scent are the plain ole cheapo dark purples....some of the new "Wave" double purples...and some of the "Wave" whites...not all of the whites though...I had to make my way through them to find them.
Ha! Yes, Chantell, it only seems to be the "cheapo dark purples." I have not come across any Wave purple or whites with a scent; maybe I missed the double purples. I felt a little sneaky when I went back to the stores and bought all the cheapo purples, like I had found a hidden pot of gold. I love that fragrance and put the pots right next to the deck stairs so I would walk by them often.
I have silver waves that I started from seed, and I'd say about half of them have the petunia scent..