Popup Petunia

These purple petunias are spilling from a container on the back deck. This is noteworthy only in that they were self-sown seeds, survived winter in the container, and grew in spring. While deciding what to plant in the containers this past spring, I spotted about two dozen petunias sprouting where they had previously grown.

Now, petunias are one of those difficult plants to start from seed indoors, being small and taking their time to develop into something that blooms. I've tried. They are so much easier to buy in a nursery.

I had no idea what would bloom this spring after spotting the tiny leaves popping out. While growing up in New York, my mom had annual petunias that reseeded every year. They were a mix of colors -- purple, pink, white, magenta -- and were not large sized. This is what I was expecting.

What grew in my container ended up being dark purple hybrid-size blooms. I think I had these last year, or was it the year before? Two red blooming petunias in the bunch were a mystery -- I had never grown red petunias in there.

The red coleus is "Ruby Slipper". It did nothing all summer, and is only now, just before our first frost, beginning to look like something.