Proven Winners now crowns an Annual of the Year based on five criteria: Easy to grow, easily recognizable as a Proven Winners plant, readily available, great for use in baskets and containers and shows outstanding landscape performance.
The 2018 winner is Supertunia Bordeaux. I saw this petunia blooming at a garden center this spring and thought I would plant it in pots at my husband’s office. However, plans changed and I ended up sticking this happy little annual in one of my own planting barrels instead.
The plants grow 6 to 12 inches tall and trail up to 30 inches. The official flower description is “soft, plummy-pink flowers with deep, plum-purple veins.”
Like all petunias, this one prefers sun to part-sun. My plants are in a tricky spot where they get morning shade and then are pummeled by heat and sun in the afternoon. They’re also growing in a barrel under the soffit so they don’t always get sufficient rain. They’re relying on me to provide regular watering, and I’m not the most reliable caretaker when it comes to potted plants!
So far I’m extremely impressed. These plants have endured two heatwaves with temps reaching the low 90s, and I keep forgetting to water them because it’s rained so often in May and June. But look how happy they are!
Supertunia Bordeaux needs no deadheading, but appreciates a regular dose of fertilizer (which I’m trying to remember). With proper care the plants should keep blooming until frost.