Petunia Sugar Plum

Petunia Sugar Plum is a brand new, compact yet trailing variety of petunia with excellent durability, primarily distinguished by its superbly coloured double flowers. Each mauve petal has dark blue-violet veins, plunging into an almost black throat that adds texture and enhances the depth of the flower. The plant blooms almost continuously from June to October, in an unusual and stable colour that brings something very new to the terrace or balcony.

Petunia belongs to the Solanaceae family; it is closely related to ornamental tobacco and its foliage also contains alkaloids. These annual, biennial, or frost-tender perennial plants are most often grown as annuals and are all native to the warm regions of South America.

Petunia Sugar Plum, created by David Kerley in England (the breeder famous for the 'Thumbelina Priscilla' petunia) and marketed from 2018, produces numerous perfectly double flowers whose colour barely fades towards the end of the flowering period. It forms a dense and trailing clump, with velvety and branched stems that rise to 30 cm (12in) high and then cascade down to 40 cm (16in), without the plant hollowing out in the centre. This variety is in bloom for 6 months, provided it is regularly fed and watered. Its medium-sized, bicolour, double flowers are approximately 5 cm (2in) in diameter, widely and intensely veined with dark purple on a mauve background, with the base of each petal becoming uniformly dark violet to almost black. They emerge on a dense foliage. The small, hairy, ovate and pointed dark green leaves have entire edges and the plant is healthy. This variety naturally has a well-branched habit and requires very little maintenance: simply remove faded flowers regularly.

No other flowering annual plant has undergone such intense breeding efforts for such a long period. The results are impressive and petunias rival geraniums in terms of splendour and length of flowering, as demonstrated by this Sugar Plum variety. Plant it in large, dark-coloured, black or grey designer pots or in hanging baskets, creating a perfect contrast with white or red petunias. You can also plant it in borders, to edge plants with grey or white foliage, such as dusty miller, silver cineraria, or artemisia. If you want it to stand out, plant several to create an original ground cover at the base of plants with grey foliage, such as nepetas faassenii or pastel-coloured annual poppies.

Note: Please be aware that our plug plants are products intended for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, repot and store them under cover (veranda, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before being planted outdoors once all risk of frost has passed.