Different Colour, Different Needs

If you’re reading on Tee’s Plants, you probably love flowers. That means you might even have a favorite colour! I love orange marigolds, for example! Something you may (or maybe not) have experienced is, (occasionally) when you buy two of the same plants but different colours of an annual at a nursery, they have a tendency to develop at different paces.

This can be for a variety of reasons, but let’s discuss a less commonly regarded one – the simple fact that different colours can represent a reasonable change in the genetic makeup of the plant, impacting its requirements and growth patterns.

Take for example, the “French Dwarf” subset marigold, a classic. One of the varieties I grow every year is called Super Hero by Benary. Super Hero comes in several different colours and patterns. You can likely recognize some of the varieties if you buy marigold each season – they’re very popular across Canada. Benary kindly provides growers some technical information to help succeed with their products and gives view into some unique insights.

For example, we can find in the Super Hero technical information that Super Hero will respond well to growth regulators. Tee’s doesn’t use any of those! But another interesting fact, is they published average flowering times for each individual colour in the series! How fascinating! And they’re wildly variable! Below is their chart indicating the days after sowing for 50% of the plants to flower.

I would have to say I certainly agree with their findings. The Deep Yellow shade takes the longest to flower for me, with reportedly over a week more of growing until you get flowers (according to this). That’s a significant difference in the greenhouse before sale! To compensate, many breeders utilize growth regulators to delay and force flowering at desired times to optimize specimen marketability. Not at Tee’s! We know that our lack of utilization of sprays sells itself, and our customers appreciate plants grown in their natural state. We have sold out of spray-free marigolds every single year, thanks to garden allies like yourself. Wouldn’t you hate to know if your milkweed was grown nearby or even in the same facility as plants that were sprayed with noenicitinoids, a powerful pesticide deadly even as a residue? Thank goodness Tee’s doesn’t use anything like that!

Another interesting example is Wave petunias. The breeder published different light requirements for their varieties, even for flowers of the same series!

This chart proves that Easy Wave petunias are a great option for new growers, or otherwise for use in areas that don’t get the most light. Easy Wave Rose Fusion requiring 6 less hours than Wave Carmine Velour is a significant difference.

One of the most common discussions we have during the late spring weeks is regarding the types of petunias. You’ve heard about Wave, but what about Easy Wave, Tidal Wave, and Shock Wave? They’re all unique in their own capacity! Choosing one that suits you best is simple.

Wave – The classic running petunia. Known for that “waterfall” effect.
Shock Wave – More mounding, less trailing, smaller flowers.
Tidal Wave – Classic petunia flower size, but with an impressive ability to run and climb as it does.
E3 (Easy Wave) – Think of the classic petunia flower but on a more controlled, mounding plant.

What one should you get? All of them!! They honestly all go for their respective uses, but if you wanted the most simple colour available, combining 2-3 E3 Wave petunias with something like bacopa will produce impressive, conversation worthy results. Especially in a planter!

So in the future if one of your plants doesn’t behave like its friend from the same seed packet or nursery, think of these charts! They just may simply need more or less sun.

Most importantly, what’s your favorite marigold and petunia shade? I love the entire Super Hero series, but Tidal Wave Purple is my current favorite petunia. They really could have gotten away calling it Tsunami, with each of my specimens (both purple and silver) spreading several feet, with hundreds of blooms each for the entire summer up to frost. See you in the spring to help you pick out a new collection!