I think I’m ready to give up on petunias in pots and planters for awhile. Over the last couple of years even my reliable cultivars have been leggy and the plants have skimped on flower production. This summer I even made a schedule to fertilize regularly and that didn’t make any difference.
Next year I’m going with short zinnias instead. I filled a planter with them in May and they continued to bloom like crazy for over 5 months.
They can handle heat and someone accidentally forgetting to water occasionally, and the plants are easy to deadhead and keep clean.
Dreamland, Magellan, Preciosa or Zesty are my favorite short zinnias with huge, colorful blooms.
