I tried ‘FotoFinish Blue’ trailing petunias for the first time this growing season because I couldn’t find any ‘Opera Supreme Blue’ seeds for sale. That’s been my go-to petunia for many years now. The plants bloom freely all summer and fall, and don’t die out in the middle and look scraggly by August.
I’m happy to report that ‘FotoFinish Blue’ was a great substitute.
Unfortunately the only photos I have of ‘FotoFinish Blue’ are from last week (aka mid-November). The plants had already endured 3 light frosts by then, but the flowers were still hanging in there!
In my 5b growing zone it’s rare to have any annuals still in bloom by mid-November, but we’ve had a very mild fall this year.
‘FotoFinish Blue’ has less day length sensitivity than other petunias so the plants are more likely to have uniform blooms that start appearing at the same time.
I sprouted seeds for these plants indoors in early March and then transplanted them into a window-box-shaped container on my patio. They were already starting to bloom in mid-May, but then we got 7 weeks of significant rain, and all my potted plants were solely focused on not drowning. I had to dump standing water out of my pots and planters many times during those weeks.
Just as the plants were finally recovering in June, a rabbit mowed them back to little nubs. I thought they were goners, but they rallied again and several weeks later, they finally started blooming. And then continued to bloom for 5 more months!
The flowers are a lovely dark-purple and appear on trailing mounds that need little care (when they aren’t being drowned or devoured by rabbits).
I’m definitely going to grow FotoFinish petunias again next year.