I live in the Western MD mountains and the hummingbirds will arrive in mid April. Our soil is on top of shale so planting in soil can be challenging. The Petunia exserta in your picture appears to be in a container. I've read that 3 - 5 gallon containers are best. Do you have suggestions on what type of container to use? Is there a place to get some seeds to try and start the plants indoors?

I thank you and everyone on this site for the information you share!
Mary Ann Sweene

Hi Mary Ann,
I have not saved seeds from it recently, but if you post on the seed exchange forum here: https://garden.org/forums/view... you may find some.

I have grown them a few times, always in containers because of my heavy yellow clay, and the hummingbirds did love them. I enjoyed the salmon-red color. Mine got taller and lankier than hybrid Petunias in general, but I don't recall the root system taking any more space than other species. I think those in the photo are growing in an old metal bucket and they were accompanied by something else in the same container, but I can't remember what. Anyway, that bucket was on the small side, probably about 3 gallons. I have also grown them in a window box so that I could watch the hummers from inside, but after one of the birds flew forcefully into the window I discontinued that practice.

If no one in the garden.org exchange has them, you might try the GardenWeb Seed Exchange on Houzz. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/f...

I hope you find them. They are worth the effort.

Thank you Alana. I had two shipped to me from a nursery in CA. I'm going to try and collect seeds, but my biggest concern is how leggy they get. Have you ever pruned them or taken cuttings??

Mary Ann

Hi Mary Ann,
I have not taken cuttings, but hybrid Petunias are easy from cuttings so I would not expect difficulty. I have pinched them back early and that does help for a while, but I am not diligent about maintenance so I don't know how well it works later on when everything is growing fast.
Alana