I guess Million Bells, aka calibrachoa hybrid. Are the flowers somewhat smaller than a regular petunia?

Flowers are smaller. He said it was a "Patented", so I am guessing some type of hybrid. It seems to grow very low. I think he said it would not have seeds, if that is true, how do you get the plants? It looks like it will have a lot of flowers.

I believe Mia got it right. It looks a lot like "Cherry Pink" Million Bells, or it might be the Trailing Magenta one.

Calibrachoas are closely related to petunias, with the main difference (genetically) being that petunias have 16 chromosomes and calibrachoas have 18 chromosomes.

Larry, They usually are raised from cuttings. To get the parents, they had to have crossed two or more plants together in the way all hybrids are created (and the parents would be trade secrets), but the children of those parents, which is the plant you have, either is sterile and doesn't produce seed or, if it does produce seed, it does not come true from seed.

The plants will be covered with tons of flowers. I am not sure how they do in the midsummer heat in our part of the country, but in cooler parts of the country they stay gorgeous all summer long.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Cherry Pink

I've had good success with ours as annuals in pots. It's recommended for hanging baskets, but I must not be a diligent enough waterer for hanging baskets at all because anything I put out turns crispy quickly. Loads of flowers, trailing habit, self-cleaning (I think), and very pretty. I've got a purple version in pots with hot pink geraniums and a date palm. Will see if I can post a pic later.

Thank you Ladies, I think you hit the nail on the head. It seems to be a be a very productive and beautiful flower.
What do you think would be the chances of getting to grow this winter on my starting bench? If not, are they expensive to buy?

Thanks, Larry

Larry,

You're welcome. Some people have had the Terra Cotta variety of Million Bells overwinter outside in pots in zones colder than ours, so I think it might overwinter just fine for you, especially if you give it a little protection from the cold.

I don't think they're very expensive. I see them with the other newer annuals and stuff like Proven Winners in stores, so they are more expensive in the sense that you won't see them sold cheaply in 6-packs like common petunias but they aren't prohibitively expensive. I imagine a quart plant would be between $5 and $8. I am going to a nursery tomorrow and will look to see if they have any Million Bells plants there so I can tell you what they're going for.

Dawn

Larry, Today I saw several varieties of Million Bells in pots in the garden center, so I checked the prices. They had them in two sizes. The smaller size was listed as 1.6 pints and those plants were $3.88 or so (my memory is fuzzy on the prices, but I remember the exact size of the containers!). The larger size was listed as 2.9 quarts and those were $6.50.

Mia, I have the best luck with flowers in containers if I plant them in huge containers that will hold lots of soil, line the planting container with open disposable diapers because they hold lots of moisture or add SoilMoist pellets to the soil, and hang them in morning sun, afternoon shade. In full sun they dry out too quickly. Then I hook up a drip irrigation system on a timer to water them for me. You can buy drip irrigation systems in a kit form designed specifically for containers.

A friend of ours had so much trouble with hanging baskets on her wraparound porch (they do tend to drip and get messy) that she finally stopped growing live plants and put up high-quality silk ones. If you didn't know they were silk, you'd never guess it. She does have to use new plants every year as the sun fades them over the course of the summer though.

Dawn

I found one today at M & M nursery in Cameron OK for $2.95. The foliage is not like the one I have, I will keep looking. I want more with the flat, dense growth.
Thanks for your help.

Larry

Larry, You're welcome. If you make it into a Home Depot, Lowe's or any other place that carries Proven Winners, check the Proven Winners display because that's where I saw them. They had at least three colors--a yellow, a pink and I think the third was a purple, or maybe it was a magenta.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Calibrachoa At Proven WInners Website

Dawn, thanks, I think you have come through again. I need to go back over to DD tomorrow. I can swing by the south side of FT. Smith and visit some larger places.

I would like to use a bush type sweet potato for the center and some of these flowers around it to represent the petals to see if I can make something that looks like a large flower on the ground if viewed from above.

Larry

Larry,

You're welcome. I think that the sweet potato plant foliage would look so gorgeous with these flowers.

Dawn

Hey ya'll. I have a legitimate flower garden now. I picked up some purple petunias the other day. hehe

bon

Petunias are a cool-season plant for the most part. You know that, right? Regular petunias never look good here at our house after June, so I mostly plant only the Laura Bush variety now because it is the one petunia I've found that laughs at heat and drought.

If you put yours where they get dappled shade or afternoon shade, they'll likely be happier in summer than they will be in full sun.

Walmart sells these.

I looked at Sharun's nursery and Home Depot in Ft. Smith yesterday. Both had Proven Winners displays, and Superbells looked most like the flower I am trying to find but the foliage on those seemed to be less stiff and dense.

Periwinkle and Portulaca are two of my favorite flowers to work with because they will try to grow anywhere.

My flower project may have to wait till next year, in the mean time I will work on making cuttings and trying to get them to overwinter.

Larry

I bought calibrachoa hybrid. I had one in a replanted basket last year, it was sterile. This year it was one of the few plants I had to purchase. At Lowes in early April I purchased 2 pink and 2 purple in 3" pots for less than $2 each.

This is how I have mine planted right now. Larry, if you are able to overwinter/grow from cuttings, please let me know as I would like to do the same.

Mia, I stuck 3 cuttings into potting soil a week or so ago, the last time I looked they were ok, but I have been so busy that I have not had time to check them. I will spend some time at home today and make it a point to check on the cuttings, if still looking ok I will try to start some more.

Larry