Prince of "Petunia"

Isn't He Cute?

This precious little guy was sent to us girls through an email from one of the guys in our office last week.  The stock market had taken such a "big dive" and  he felt that maybe we could all use a smile.  He's our resident cheerleader-thanks Jeff! 

  I'm still smiling a week later at this little sweetheart!

And speaking of Petunias...

photo by Suzanne in the spring of 2000

I'm quite the Petunia fan.  My little English Garden features some 'fuschia' colored Petunias in front of the garden Peasant Girl.  I love Petunias flanked with white 'sweet alyssum'.  The alyssum brings out the bright colors of the Petunias and makes them "POP"!

photo by Suzanne, probably in 1994

This is an older photo, when I first got my house.  The pot on the left houses white, red and a fushia colored 'Petunia'.  See how healthy the plants are in this pot?  I like to buy 'Petunias' while they're young, before there are any full open blooms on them (just a peak-a-boo of bloom to know what color I'm getting).  You can control their growth, and they last longer.  And, by the way, those red lillies in the back are what I believe to be called "St. Joseph" lillies.  There were bunches of them in this back flower bed...I didn't know what the heck they were.  I dug them up and re-arranged them.  Of course, they multiplied!  Kudos to me!  They only bloom once a year, and the foliage stays nice until it gets really hot-then, I cut the foliage back.

photo by Suzanne * Spring 1996

I even have 'Petunias' on the patio!  The large terra cotta colored pot is bursting with red and white 'Petunias'.  Those are my favorite two colors to plant together.  Each color compliments the other.  And they're so fluffy!

The patio is homemade...I designed it myself and commissioned my, then, 15 year old son and one of his friends to construct it for me.  The pavers are concrete color and red.  And we edged it with red brick that I dug up all around the property.  The red pavers are small squares and we used large concrete colored pavers too.  And, hey!  I had a Dodge truck, so I was able to pick up the pavers and haul them home myself.  It did take two trips...the pavers were pretty heavy.  After prepping the area, it took the boys two evenings to get it together, according to my design.  I spent around $300.00 for materials and labor.  We still use the patio, but it does need some refurbishing now, as the pavers are shifting around.  It is getting on in years.

photo by Suzanne * Spring 2003

Well, I was messing around with black and white film in my old Pentax 34mm camera (which, by the way, takes great flicks) and shot this pot of 'Sugar Daddy Petunias'.  Now, I wish I had taken some pics of them in color.  They were a 'spicy' pink, with a darker pink center, and grew to be pretty large...and, of course, I adorned them with, what else, 'white sweet alyssum'!

***

One tip I have followed that really works, is to pluck the spent blooms from 'Petunia' plants to encourage more flowering.  I mean, this is VERRRY tedious, almost like peeling your sunburn-but it pays off!  You just have to go out there, faithfully, and do it!  Gently pull out the shriveled blooms, and, with a plastic grocery bag hanging from your wrist, you can deposit them into the bag as you go along.

photo by Suzanne * April 2007

I have a strawberry pot, and no luck with strawberries!  So, I planted red and white variegated 'Petunias' in the top of it and strategically placed 'airplane plant' and some 'golden sedum' in the other openings.  The 'Petunias' did pretty good in this pot, but I had to stay on top of it, as it's hard to keep the soil AND the plants IN THE POT when you water it!!!  The terra cotta Goat also has 'golden sedum' planted in it.  This is a ground cover that blooms little yellow stars in the warm of the spring.  And, it comes back every year-it also grows where it falls.  My next door neighbor Lee gave me sprigs of it and I have found it to be an enjoyable plant.  Behind the Goat are the 'Stella D'Oro' lillies with new buds-ready to bloom.  They are such a bright yellow and need plenty of sun to open up fully.  And, of course, a small pot of white 'Perriwinkle'.

Petunias are a beautiful addition to any arrangement of pots, and in the ground.  As they get leggy, I find a spot on the plant just above new leaves and cut them back.  And here they come again, but it does take water, sun, and a little patience. 

I hope you've enjoyed my 'Petunias' and my little Prince!

****

I've been out of commission (LITERALLY!) for almost a week.  Our phone lines cratered, and they had to be replaced.  How ANNOYING!  Thank goodness for cell phones during a time like this.  And, we had no internet.  So, I missed the wonderful posts from all of my favorite blogs, and I'm catching up on them now.  I still have a few to read, and I'm doing good getting to them.  I guess the phone lines on this old house just couldn't take the heat anymore.  But here, they stretch them from the top of the house all the way thru the back yard to a telephone pole!  And, they were sagging! 

I must Thank:

Google

Yahoo Images

Jeff and Fred from my office

My Faithful Readers

And- the "Prince of Petunia"!

August 17, 2011 * National Joke Day

Here is a joke sent to us at the office from another jokster!

"I used to be indecisive...now I'm not sure". 

Well, my fellow bloggers and friends, 'tis all for now.  Stop by and say hello anytime. 

 Be well, and happy 

It is a muggy 94° in the fair city of Fort Worth, Texas, USA!