Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Group/Class:  Whispers™ Series

Brand:  Syngenta

Description:

A beautiful trailing petunia featuring a controlled, well branched habit; produces trumpeted blooms in dramatic colors, standing out against green foliage; perfect for hanging baskets, containers, beds and borders; easy to grow, requiring little upkeep

Ornamental Features

Whispers™ Red Petunia is smothered in stunning red trumpet-shaped flowers at the ends of the stems from mid spring to late summer. Its pointy leaves remain green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Whispers™ Red Petunia is a dense herbaceous annual with a trailing habit of growth, eventually spilling over the edges of hanging baskets and containers. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Whispers™ Red Petunia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Whispers™ Red Petunia will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 20 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Whispers™ Red Petunia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Because of its trailing habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.