Sounds wonderful, perennialfan. My gardening friend with lots of experience and good soil has many of petunias come back. Makes me jealous. Your grandma must have great soil, too, and a good climate for petunias. Do you have any pics? But I have tons of snapdragons come back and act like perennials. I'm relying on them this year, and they've come through. I'm quarantined strictly, and not buying many plants (family gets sent on that errand). Diane

Yes, some petunias seed themselves. A dear friend of mine gave me some seeds from some old fashioned vining petunias and I have them seed in my rose pots every year. But don't bother with the newer ones. I tried to collect seeds from some of the Proven Winners and found they won't even set seed at all! Bummer!

My grandmother had probably the same, pale purples, pale pinks, and white. They're not as vibrant, but hey, they do return and are very fragrant as I remember.

Yes, my parents had them. White, lavendar, pink. They would get so thick in their flower beds that they had to thin them. Somewhere on this site someone knew what they are (or were). I don't remember. My parents did nothing more than give them a little water during the dry summer months. Would love to find some for myself.

http://www.onlineplantguide.com/Plant-Details/1918/

I don't know where to find them though.

I think some were called "Balcony Petunias", but my friend has some of her many modern hybrids come back. She grows them from seed, as well as buys plants. Diane

Yes, but not true to the originals. I found bubblegum pink ones last summer and never plant pink annuals.

The seeds would be very easy to collect or have someone else do it at your grandmother's house. When the flowers die back just find a little round ball at the base where the flower used to be. When they turn from hard green to a crispy brown just pinch those off and squeeze it over a small bowl. The seeds are super tiny black dots. Good luck with them.

Mine have returned faithfully for almost 10 years. They are wave petunias. A vivid purple when I planted them. They return white, pink, and lavender. I grow them in a big pot; haven't put any directly in the ground. Late August or early September I go out and crumble the drying foliage back into the pot. I'm sure there are correct ways to do it, but I am the original lazy gardener.

first time poster here-i see from the discussions here that it is easier to grow from cuttings than seed.what is the timing for doing this?i live in an area with lots of snow til end march so wondering when cuttinggs should be taken to get the most blooms the following yr.interested in surfinias,waves,supertunias etc.

thanks

I'm cheap, so I when I buy petunias for the season I always do cuttings to make more. Mine root in about two weeks. They catch up fast once planted in the garden. Give it a try---it's fun!

Try the Laura Bush petunias, they re seed and are fragrant.

You can get the wild violet petunia from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

thanks-2 weeks seems very fast-do you put the cuttings inside first to keep them away from direct light?