Among the petunias I tried last year, my first choice goes to Black Knight, a Grandiflora type.
The plants were dwarf, sturdy, vigorous, and remarkably consistent in producing an abundance of large blooms. The color is a deep and velvety bluish-purple.
Prima Donna Petunia
The new Prima Donna petunia is also excellent. It has the growth and habits of a Ballerina and, except for the color, is a counterpart. It is a deep rose and flowers for me continuously from early June until killing frost.
Nevertheless, Ballerina, to my way of thinking, is still the most beautiful of all the petunias.
Bolero Plant
Bolero is similar to Prima Donna but is not as consistent in producing quality blooms. The color varies, and the blossoms are smaller.
Crusader is the finest striped variety. Early plants in the cold frame (in four-inch pots) were mostly rose with an edging of white.
Later, the colors were reversed in the garden—white with an edging of deep rose. Some were almost white.
I did not care for Starbright, its small blossoms of rosy purple, and white stars in the center. Other petunias which I will grow again are Dream Girl, Pink Sensation, and Comanche. I also tried some Ball Red. It is better than Comanche, more vigorous, and slightly darker.
Bells of Ireland
For two years, I have tried Bells of Ireland and had trouble germinating the seeds, but last year I managed to have a few appear. Unfortunately, the plants never grew taller than 18” inches and started to bloom when only a few inches tall.
One of my most pleasurable experiences of the past summer was walking through a bed of the Giant Pacific strain of heliotrope. The catalog description said the heads would grow a foot across, and, strange to say, they did!
These were very fragrant, especially the lighter shades, but the white variety, Snowstorm, was a disappointment. It was not fragrant, and the individual florets which make up the spray were spaced farther apart than the purple variety.
Ball Asters
The new Ball asters were the finest I have ever grown. Six colors are available, and all are double and long-stemmed, besides keeping well as cut flowers. I especially liked the white.
Sweet Peas
Last but not least are the sweet peas. I did not find the new heat-resistant varieties any better than the multiflorus. Both kinds bloomed well into July, the multi-floras and floribundas, of course, giving more blooms per stem (four seven).
I also tried a strain known as butterfly hybrids. These are striped in bizarre patterns and seem the same as some I grew 15 years ago from English seed.
44659 by Kenneth W. Houghton