The new miniature hybrid petunias—Million Bells, have been the latest thing at garden centers for the last couple of years. The colors of red, deep magenta and orange are enticing. And can you believe it; they bloom all summer without deadheading! More orange flowers—I finally bought a plant this year. At $3.99 for a small plant it was an investment.
The flowers turn several colors of orange as they develop and they do bloom all summer; they’re still blooming—sparsely. It’s nice to not have to deadhead them in order to keep them blooming though the sepals turn brown so I remove them anyway.
The reason Million Bells don’t have to be deadheaded is that they don’t reproduce from seeds; they’re a hybrid reproduced by cuttings—both aspects contribute to the high price (being a hybrid and reproduction by cutting taking longer). Usually, when a plant has spent flowers it will go to the next step in its development—making seeds. Then when the seeds are mature the plant dies; if it’s an annual or dies back until the next season if a perennial. Deadheading turns back the clock on this process, causing the plant to continue blooming.
Will I buy Million Bells again? Since they bloom, for me—even with fertilizer, only sparsely and the small-sized flowers are best appreciated at eye-level, probably not. But it’s good to try new things. Perhaps next year there will be something else new or rediscovered.
Today is forecast to be another gorgeous day--sunny and in the 70's! It's still too cool to be out very long yet but the sun is warming up.
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