Petunias are popular garden flowers that are shaped like little colorful trumpets, and they can be almost any color you can think of! They come in pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and some even have stripes, speckles, or star-shaped patterns on their petals. Petunias originally come from South America, and they are actually cousins of the tomato and the potato, even though they look nothing alike! Their name comes from a word that sounds like the word for “tobacco” in an old South American language, because their leaves look a little bit like tobacco leaves.
Petunias love to grow in hanging baskets and window boxes where their branches can drape down like a beautiful flowery curtain. They bloom all summer long if they get plenty of sunshine and water, making your porch or garden look colorful for months and months. Some petunias have a sweet smell that gets stronger in the evening to attract moths that come out at night. Petunias are a little bit sticky if you touch their stems and leaves because they have tiny hairs that make a gooey coating. This stickiness actually helps protect the plant by trapping small bugs that might try to eat it!
