Petunia, Verbena and Pelargonium ..... and they're parched.

Hanging baskets can need watering twice or more a day in sunny weather. Dead head frequently too.

I think the trouble folks have sometimes is that the nurseries sell the flowers all in bloom and very full and we get them home and they get leggy and thin and we do not know what to do. Petunias always need to dead headed. I do not plant them for those two reasons. I do not like to deadhead them and they get ugly and legging in August with the heat. You can also trim them back but I would say water, water and water those baskets until it runs out the bottom. People do not realize hot fast they dry out.

Verbena and Pelargonium also need regular and frequent dead heading. Petunias are the worst, though. Plants that require grooming on an on-going basis don't usually end up in my gardens.

You might want to consider Calibrachoa in the future. There are some great hybrids called Million Bells and Super Bells that will knock your socks off. Calibrachoa are related to petunias by family but are self cleaning.

You should evaluate your watering practices by checking, manually, if the containers are dry or soaking wet a little bit after watering. Sometimes a peat based potting mix can repel water, allowing for dry pockets to form.

Would you say that these plants receive at least six hours of full sun per day?

How are you watering and how much water?

That pot looks like you should put it in a bucket of water up to the rim of the pot and leave it for 20 minutes.

tj

Maggie, I love petunias. In fact I have wave petunias that have reseeded for six years. I don't do a thing beyond regular watering and adding a weak fertilizer every other week. In August I cut them back and fertilize. They come back and bloom like crazy through October. I should/could dead head but I don't. Don't panic. They are nature's creation and they know what to do☺

mzdee, I wish all of my flowers can thrive on their own:) Is your petunia perennial?

Maggie, technically the petunia is considered an annual. But in some places, they will reseed. I'm in MD and the wave petunias have reseeded. I have in fact had calibrachoas return as well; that one I can't figure out.

mzdee, technically (botanically) the petunia is a tender perennial that we treat as an annual because they will die completely in a cold winter. In warm climates or in a greenhouse, petunias can keep on growing on their original roots.

I've lived in locations where petunias kept right on chugging all through a couple of years, when winters were especially mild. With some pruning, the plants looked fabulous as they got older.

Whether or not a plant reseeds has nothing at all to do with its status as an annual or a perennial.

Yes, I agree. And yet for this zone they are all labeled as annuals. Only that wave petunia has repeatedly reseeded while others have not. Tis at the discretion of Mother Nature, regardless what the labels say.

Dropping seeds is not being a perennial. To be called that, individuals need to reliably survive for at least a few years.

I know a number of folks who dislike petunias because of the need to deadhead. Personally, that has never bothered me overly much -- there are any number of plants that require doing so. But then, too, I have only had one basket/pot at time. I like petunias. Often get visitations from hummers and hummingbird moths.

As has been noted, many folks don't realize hanging baskets dry out very quickly -- especially during warm days with sun and wind. Also, as Rhizo mentioned, whereas peat does hold a lot of water once it is wet (which can be problematic under many growing conditions), if it dries out completely it becomes hydrophobic (water repellant) which can make it very difficult to rewet.

mzdee...no matter what the climate dictates, a petunia is ALWAYS botanically, technically a perennial. Yes, it is one of many such herbaceous perennials that are used as an annual, but that doesn't change the fact that a perennial is a perennial no matter where it is growing.

I only make the point because you used the word technically and I assumed that you were going for accuracy in your descriprion.