Colour in containers and hanging baskets can be provided by a host of plants, one of the most popular being petunias.
There are three types: single, double and trailing and all have quite vigorous growth.
The singles have one layer of large, floppy petals. They come in single colours such as white, yellow, various shades of red and purple as well as bicolours. So
me of these two-colour ones come in some really fantastic combinations such as deep purple edged with white, red with a white throat and then there are the even more striking veined varieties.
They are suitable for all types of container as well as beds and borders. Heavy showers of rain can spoil the delicate single blooms but are still very good value for money, providing an endless display of summer colour.
Flowers of the doubles are almost carnation-like in appearance, producing huge heads of colour, with bicoloured varieties again especially eye-catching. Again bedding and containers is where to plant them and they will give a rich reward of kerb appeal.
With three double types dead-heading regularly is essential of blooms.
The third type are the trailing varieties for hanging baskets and window boxes. The most well known are the surfinia, pictured, and tumbelina varieties.
These have a great garden performance, the former claimed as the most vigorous and bountiful trailing petunia in the world, with more blooms per square foot than any other variety. They can cascade from their container for almost a metre in length!
The surfinia blooms are singles, whereas the tumberlina varieties produce double flowers in a range of colours. These particular named trailing petunias can often cost a little more than some but are well worth it.
Another type of trailing petunia is called Million Bells. This one comes in a huge range of colours, each plant capable of producing hundreds of small, single bell-shaped flowers which will smother its container.
