Raving about wave petunias

By Marianne C. Ophardt, Special to the Herald

KENNEWICK -- A long time ago, I wasn't a big fan of petunias.

The ones I planted tended to do well early in the season, but became leggy and stopped flowering with the heat of summer.

It wasn't until I was given some Wave petunias that I started to consider petunias worthy annual flowers for creating container gardens for high heat situations.

The problem with the traditional types of petunias is that they aren't heat tolerant for the conditions of full sun and high heat found in our region. I appreciate their glorious blooms, but their performance just didn't encourage me to use them in my planters or garden -- until the Wave family came along.

Wave petunias were developed by the Kirin Brewing Company in Japan and were introduced to the U.S. in 1995 by the Ball Horticultural Company. Plant breeders developed this amazing petunia using a wild petunia native to southern Brazil. Wave Purple was the first of this multi-series family of petunias to reach American gardeners.

Wave petunias are known for their generally aggressive growth and trailing habit. What I like most about the Waves are their tolerance of intense sun and high heat. Waves thrive in heat and full sun, if they have enough water and fertilizer. As I've mentioned before, last summer I used Wave Purple petunias in the planters in front of my home. Because the front of the house faces south-southwest the location is very sunny and hot. The high heat is exacerbated by the surrounding paving and brick. My Wave Purples were glorious, blooming freely from late spring until frost in the fall.

There are many varieties in the five series in the Wave family:

-- The Wave Petunia Series have a spreading habit and grow 4 to 6 inches tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. They're great in gardens as a flowering annual groundcover and in planters. There are six colors: Purple, blue, misty lilac, lavender, pink and rose.

-- The Easy Wave Series have a mounded, spreading habit and grow 6 to 12 inches tall and about 3 feet wide. They work well in containers and garden beds. There are nine colors: Pink, coral pink, shell pink, salmon, mystic pink, rosy dawn, red, blue and white, as well as several selected mixes of these colors.

-- The Double Wave Series have a spreading habit and grow 4 to 6 inches tall and 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall. This is a slightly more compact Wave series with frilly double flowers and dark green leaves. They're great in hanging baskets and containers. There are eight colors: Blue vein, blue velvet, lavender, misty lilac, pink, purple, rose and white.

-- The Tidal Wave Series needs lots of room to grow with a spreading, upright habit they grow 1 1/2 to almost 2 feet tall and 2 1/2 to 5 feet wide. They can be used for a spectacular groundcover, for a large container planting, or even for creating a low flowering hedge. There are four colors: Cherry, hot pink, purple and silver along with two color mixes.

-- The Shock Wave Series is the newest series of the Wave family and were introduced last year. The plants grow from 7 to 10 inches tall and spread 2 1/2 to 3 feet wide. Take note that this series has much smaller flowers and more restrained growth. Shock Wave petunias are best used in small baskets or mixed containers, as well in garden beds where space is limited. They come in five colors: Ivory, pink, rose, pink vein, and purple and two mixes.

Wave petunias are very easy to grow, but still require some attention from gardeners. They will perform best if they receive at least six hours or more of direct full sun. They don't like wet feet, so the soil or potting mix should be well drained and not kept excessively wet.

Because Wave petunias are such vigorous growers they're also "heavy feeders" requiring a steady supply of nitrogen fertilizer. A weekly application of water soluble fertilizer will work or you can provide for their needs with a slow-release fertilizer used according to the label directions. There is no need to deadhead or remove spent flowers. Wave petunias usually don't need to be cut back late in the season, but if they do become too long or a bit leggy they respond well to some trimming.

One problem I do have with the Waves are the colors. For example, to me, their "blue" flowers look purple and their "purple" looks fuchsia, so don't buy them based on their color names. Before you buy, check out the flower colors at www.wave-rave.com.

The biggest problem I have with Wave petunias is getting the types I want. Big box garden centers and local garden stores don't carry a wide selection of the many different Waves available.

However, I was browsing through my seed catalogs and noticed that Burpee and Park (www.parkseed.com) have seeds of many different Wave petunia varieties. Burpee (www. burpee.com) also sells plants of some.

* Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for the Washington State University Extension Office in Benton County. Read more of Ophardt's Garden Tips columns at www.tricityherald.com/ophardt.

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Saturday, Feb. 07, 2009

Raving about wave petunias

By Marianne C. Ophardt, Special to the Herald