{"id":4698,"date":"2026-06-26T07:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=4698"},"modified":"2026-06-26T07:21:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:21:50","slug":"sense-and-petuniability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/sense-and-petuniability\/","title":{"rendered":"Sense and Petuniability"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last week I wrote about the lowly but gorgeous purple and white-spotted petunia that wowed the crowds on our local garden tour. That got me thinking about petunias, a plant that I never really cottoned to. In the neighborhood where I grew up, everyone grew pink, white or purple ones in containers or in narrow beds next to their driveways Those who wanted them to look good through the gardening season deadheaded them religiously, watering and feeding with fervor. They were rewarded with gorgeous petunias unless the weather turned rainy, or they went away for more than a few days. Those circumstances made the blooms ball up into sticky brown messes that required either extreme grooming or a trip to the compost pile.
\n\tPetunias also have \u201csticky\u201d leaves, which is caused by tiny, fine glandular hairs. I am not fond of such sticky leaves, though I know they serve a purpose for the plants.
\n\tMy glorious tour petunia–purchased by my daughter–did not transform me into a petunia afficionado, but piqued my interest in them.
\n\tThe ancestors of modern annual petunias came from South America and were first described and named by a botanist in 1803. Like those other New World natives, potatoes and tomatoes, they are members of the sometimes-deadly nightshade or Solanaceae family. The plants were first mentioned in American sources in 1847, according to the wonderful Denise Wiles Adams in her book Restoring American Gardens.
\n\tPetunias caught on and breeders took liberties. Species like Petunia nytaginiflora, with its upward-facing flowers and alluring night scent were crossed with other species to produce reliably varieties that would come true from seed. Pre-World War II catalogs listed as many as 22 heirloom varieties. Botanists and those interested in horticultural accuracy now refer to these hybrids\u2014old and new–as Petunia x hybrida.
\n\tIn the second half of the twentieth century petunias, while still popular, were not at the apex of horticultural fashion. That trend reversed itself with the renewed interest in annuals that began about twenty years ago. Breeders expanded color ranges and forms, and new, small-flowered varieties like the related Calibrachoa \u2018Million Bills\u2019 took gardeners\u2019 fancies.
\n\tSome reportedly, self-clean, rather than balling up in misery every time it rains, but the real attraction of some of the flashy new petunia varieties is scent.
\n\tWhen I lowered my head towards the crowd-pleasing petunia in my front garden, which goes by the varietal name, \u2018Night Sky\u2019, I was struck by its sweet, slightly spicey fragrance. On subsequent trips to the garden center, I have found a host of other petunia varieties that are also strongly scented.
\n\tWhile new to me, this trait has been around forever in petunias, especially those pollinated by night-flying moths, including the impressive hawk moths. Over the millennia, moths and flowers have evolved side by side in symbiotic relationships. While the scents are apparent during daylight hours, they are stronger at night, when the pollinators are active. Many sources mention that varieties with white, dark blue or deep purple flowers are the most fragrant.
\n\tAs with other ornamental plants, not all petunias are equally strongly scented. The aptly named \u2018Evening Scentsation\u2019 boasts large, deep blue flowers that one company\u2019s promotional copy describes as redolent of \u201csweet honey, roses, and hyacinths.\u201d \u2018Appleblossom\u2019, part of the Dream petunia series features pale pink trumpets with a floral scent and a striking yellow eye in the middle of each flower. The pristine \u2018Rainmaster\u2019 petunia is a renamed version of a long-cultivated species, Petunia axillaris, that combines a spicey scent with white blooms that resist rain damage.
\n\tPetunias are fairly easy to grow in garden beds, containers or hanging baskets, and sprout readily from seed or starter plants. At this time of year, you can also buy fully grown containers of petunias at local garden centers and big box stores. High heat and too much direct mid-day sunlight diminishes the natural oils that produce the scents. If your area has cool evenings, all the better. Provide free-draining soil and don\u2019t overfertilize, which will produce lots of leaves, but fewer fragrant flowers.
\n\tNeedless to say, position your scented petunias near porches or patios where you can sit as the day wanes into night and enjoy the fragrance.
\n\tI love scent and I am in the process of learning to appreciate petunias. I think the more I experience them, the more they will grow on me\u2014or at least grow near me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I wrote about the lowly but gorgeous purple and white-spotted petunia that wowed the crowds on our local garden tour. That got me thinking about petunias, a plant that I never really cottoned to. In the neighborhood where I grew up, everyone grew pink, white or purple ones in containers or in narrow … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,1],"tags":[853,852,3299,10,3298,3301,3297,3300],"class_list":["post-4698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-uncategorized","tag-bedding-plants","tag-container-plants","tag-fragrant-petunias","tag-garden-tours","tag-petunia-history","tag-petunia-nytaginiflora","tag-petunia-x-hybrida","tag-solanaceae-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4700,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions\/4700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}