The color purple
Just in case you have not heard about them, it started in 1985 with the purple wave. Unlike any other seed grown petunias at the time, the purple wave proudly showed off 3-inch flowers on the full length of every branch, and could grow to cover as much as 4 sq foot in one season compared to the typical 1.5 sq foot mount by most others.
It soon became known as the "ground cover Petunia" and the new standard by which all other seed grown petunias were measured.
Crave the Wave
It may sound unbelievable, and if so, it probably does not come as a surprise that the above information was taken from the official website www.wave-rave.com. This petunia even has it's own dedicated website (of course).
What makes the Wave Petunia interesting, however, is the fact that it does perform as described. The spreading behaviour is indeed quite unique. Even a few petunias can quickly fill in a large planter or a small flower bed.
Today the petunia is available in six colors (Pink, Rose, (Mystic) Lilac, Purple, Lavender, and Blue ... the last 3 are AAS Winners). My personal favorites are the Pink and Rose varieties, though.
Other nice feature is that you do not need to deadhead (remove spent flowers) to promote more blooms. It is also very vigorous and will quickly fill in if damaged by insects, floods, or by accident by a careless gardener.
Newer series have appeared also, such as the Easy Wave, which is more mounted (read: tall). It also flowers under lower light conditions, an issue mainly for northern professional growers producing for early spring markets. Certainly not a concern for the home owner. I recommend the original Wave over the Easy Wave petunias.
The Wave Petunia series really do outperform practically all other seed grown petunias in my opinion. If you have not tried it, you should.
One significant problem with the Waves, however, Price!!! Depending on the quantity you buy, Wave Petunia seeds can costs you $17.60 for 100 or $3.79 for 25 at Harris Seeds, or even $3.15 for 10 seeds at Park Seeds. Not exactly cheap compared to the $0.75 I pay for a package of 100-150 "no brand" hybrid petunia seeds at the supermarket. In this case you have to pay for what you get and technically the price is not unreasonable when you consider the hybridizing which has gone into it's develop. Still it is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.
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