Growing Petchoa. Do we like them??

This year I grew some Petchoa – a cross between Petunias and Calibrachoas.

They sold themselves to me by the amazing virtues of not being sticky. Unlike petunias. And not needing deadheading in order to keep flowering. You can see the droopy deadheads above. Charles began by removing them but soon gave up.

We have some shelving we built on a South facing wall of the house.

It always looks as if Charles did everything by himself – because I take these pictures. He calls them ‘snaps’.

And every summer I have plants on it.

Why I imagine this is better than the much despised hanging basket, I have no idea. (could be an interesting discussion, that)

Don’t know what these were. You probably know. I think the white things may be petunias.

I’ve had succulents there for a few years. They have the advantage of really not needing watering and actually enjoying the shelter. You will observe that these shelves are wooden and therefore, even when it pours with rain, the pots on the shelves stay dry.

This year, though, I decided I wanted colour and drama back.

So Petchoa were purchased.

Plant shelving at Veddw Garden copyright Anne Wareham

Tiny to start..

They didn’t look very dramatic to start off with. This (above) was mid May. But things soon(ish) looked up. This (below) is a month later.

Then they went mad.

And were much admired.

By visitors who mostly thought they were petunias. Ha! Not sticky! They have needed watering every day, in a very wet and cold summer. I don’t mind that so much, as it removes any doubt about whether to water or not. I think you’re told to be careful with watering but they wilted quickly with me. And recovered well when soaked.

At the begining of September they still didn’t look too bad. Though I got little bored with them and they were a bit manky.

Petchoa at Veddw Garden copyright Anne Wareham

They hadn’t completely gone.

Then I just got totally fed up with them and let them die!

So what do I think, overall?

They’ve done well in the drama and colour stakes. Some are very attractive:

Note the droopy deadheads though.

They are rather big and clunky. They have drama but they didn’t touch me. Bit vulgar?

I think next year I’ll go back to one which was a real favourite, Calibrachoas, which was only marred for me by the need to water every day. (Watering has got easier by the addition of a nearby hose. Which looks bad. A problem, that) Well, that’s not different to Petchoas. They are a smaller, prettier flower. And I think I’ll put them on capillary matting next year, so they might be more tolerant of a missed day.