Pretty Pink Petunias

This past summer, Mom and I visited the trial gardens at Michigan State University. That was like walking through a candy store, with the colorful array of annuals in full bloom laid before us in strips like aisles in a floral supermarket. The thought that kept running through my head was, "I'll take three of those, six of those, and ALL of those!"

Some of the plants that really caught my eye were, of all things, petunias. Even though I've grown them every year in some variety or another, I was still somewhat of the mind that petunias were overused, boring, and a grandma flower. But I kept returning to look at them here and by the time we left, so had my previous stereotypical thoughts about them.

First, there was 'Antique Shades.'



And then I was smitten with 'Lime Bicolor.'


I took note of them and will look for them next spring. In the meantime, a lovely pink petunia came up volunteer on our front brick walk here at Our Little Acre.

While I don't know exactly which one it is, it's most likely an offspring of a pink Wave variety that I had in my flower boxes on the front porch two summers ago. They bloomed like crazy and no doubt thousands, maybe even millions, of its seeds fell to the ground below.

When my parents came to help spruce things up before the garden walk in August, Dad wanted to pull it out. He thought I wouldn't want it growing in the brick walk, but I was perfectly content to let it remain and do its thing. How could anyone destroy something as lovely as this?

Today, the latest issue of Horticulture magazine arrived in the mail and there was yet another petunia staring me in the face that is now on my want list for next spring:

Photo by Proven Winners

Supertunia 'Pretty Much Picasso' is brought to us by Proven Winners.

With their ease of growing and the great new varieties there are to choose from these days, petunias aren't just for grandmas anymore!

Something New, Something Old, Something Silver and Gold

What's new to me is sometimes old to someone else, especially in the plant world, because I'm so new to it. I just completed my fifth summer of gardening and though I've learned a heck of a lot in that time, it's but a drop in the bucket, considering the whole. But this isn't a bad thing.

When you find a pastime that is as big and varied as gardening, there isn't a chance for boredom to set in. Your world is only limited by your time or space or energy. There are times when we're hit with all three, but even then, it seems there's always something new on the horizon to capture our interest.

The garden is winding down for the year, but there are a few tough plants that soldier on, bursting out with new blooms of color. There's the 'Clara Curtis' daisy mum (Dendranthemum) that laughs in the face of Jack Frost. Who would think there would be so much pink in the garden now? There are other mums too, and a few roses, like these minis:



And imagine my surprise at finding a non-Stella daylily in bloom:

Hemerocallis 'Penny's Worth'

But what I'm really enjoying right now is the Silver and Gold Mum.


That's what it's commonly called, and while it used to be in the genus Chrysanthemum, now it's Ajania pacifica 'Silver and Gold.' I purchased it in June, at Bench's Greenhouse, when I visited Bren of BG_Garden. I wish I'd bought more than one, although I do see small signs of it spreading already.

It's a perennial, suitable for zones 5-9, and it blooms September through November. The plant is about 12-15 inches tall and its blooms stay as tight little buttons that seem as if they'll never open up further, but they eventually do. The foliage has a sheen to it and at first glance its perfect form looks artificial.

Is this a commonly grown plant, or is it new just to me?

New Website For Your Reading Pleasure!

As the colder months are breathing down our necks, and the holidays are edging their way into our periphery, it's the perfect time to hunker down with a good book or two. In most climates, gardening is a three-season endeavor, so we can use the off-season to garden by way of wonderful books.

I love reading. I love gardening. So it was just natural that I create a site that joins both. Gardening by the Book came about as a result of these two loves plus the fact that more and more review copies of gardening books are coming my way. I didn't want Our Little Acre to become something other than what it is, which is more or less a journal of my experiences in our northwest Ohio gardens. Yet, as I said, I love reading and want to share what's been on my bookshelf and what is arriving in my mailbox.

I will still post some book reviews here, but there will be more of them on Gardening by the Book.



If you're the author or publisher of a book on gardening or a related subject and would like me to review your book, please contact me through my profile here or the contact link on Gardening By the Book.

If you're a reader of Our Little Acre, I urge you to visit my new companion site. It's on Facebook, too!