Petunia Viva Eclipse

The  Petunia Eclipse is an easy and generous plant, which blooms early in the season and for long weeks. Its large purple flowers finely edged with cream to pale yellow blossom on a bushy plant with a rounded, well-defined habit. Its unique colour will bring something very new to the terrace or balcony decor. It will also make a big impact in flower beds.

The Petunia belongs to the solanaceae family; it is closely related to ornamental tobacco, for example, 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. 

The Petunia Eclipse is part of a hybrid lineage called Viva, which brings together versatile varieties with early flowering, rounded habit, and unique colours. 'Eclipse' produces numerous large flowers from May-June until October. It forms a dense, rounded clump, with hairy and branched stems that rise up to 30 cm (12in) in height and then spread over 35-40 cm (14-16in), without the plant hollowing out in the centre. This variety flowers for 6 months, provided it is regularly supplied with water and fertilizer. Its flowers bloom on dense foliage. The small, somewhat pubescent, oval and pointed leaves have entire edges and a vibrant green colour, making the plant healthy. This variety requires very little maintenance: simply remove faded flowers regularly.

No other annual flowering plant has undergone such intensive selection by breeders for such a long period. The results are impressive, as petunias rival geraniums in terms of splendor and length of flowering, as demonstrated by this Viva Eclipse variety. Place it in large light-coloured designer pots, or in hanging baskets with white, purple, or blue petunia varieties. You can also plant it in a flower bed, to punctuate borders of plants with gray or white foliage such as ceraistes, sea cineraria, or artemisias. Also, associate it in large flower compositions with oxalis, clovers, white bacopa, or bidens with delicate flowers, large clumps of Pennisetum setaceum rubrum.

Note: Please be aware that our young plug plants are professional 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 installed outdoors once the risk of frost is definitively eliminated.