Pretty Pretty Petunia Cascading colors of spring are all too familiar to gardeners and fascinating for garden watchers. One plant that almost always features in garden plans is the Petunia. Petunias are available in a very wide range of colors from solid white to purple and star patterns and veined contrasts. Hanging baskets, planters, window boxes, borders and flowerbeds all can be perfect places for petunias. Full sun is the best light condition this keeps the plant compact and avoids spindly growth. This also allows the water to evaporate from the foliage and flowers soon. To get the best display of flowers avoid watering them later in the day and keep the soil moist. After the flowers have peaked, deadheading the old ones and cutting back the stems a little can bring a similar good display of color soon. Petunia heights can reach up to 18 inches depending on the variety. If used as a ground cover or in the flowerbeds space plants 10 inches apart. Petunia flowers start in early spring and last through summer. Look out for instant color petunias in your favorite sizes flats, four inch, six inch, and eight inch and hanging baskets.