If you are thinking of potting up some petunias but want something different take a look at The Hippy Pot. Remember the 60’s hippy time and all its psychedelic prints? Well, I found a plant that reminded me of that and I thought would make a great display in my garden. Let’s make a Hippy Petunia Pot!

When I bought the petunia ‘Night Sky’ a few weeks ago it still hadn’t flowered. I thought I was getting a black flowered petunia that would contrast with the white ones I was also buying alongside them. I wanted to create a black and white themed pot. So when ‘Night Sky’ flowered I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was amazing! Then I understood why it was called ‘Night Sky’. This petunia flower has a backdrop in a deep indigo blue with speckled splashes of white that reminds me of tie-dye, I just thought it was very hippy and when I planted it up it become the ‘Hippy Petunia Pot’.

What you will need to make the Hippy Pot

• 2 petunia ‘Night Sky’
• 1 petunia Tumbelina ‘Diana’ or any other white petunia, preferably a double flowered hanging variety
• 2 osteospermum ‘Sunny Felix’ or similar
• 1 nemesia ‘Wisley Vanilla’ for a bit of scent
• Optional for the edge of the pot are trailing ivies and bacopa ‘Snowflake’, or any other white bacopa
• Compost with a sprinkle of water storage crystals and added fertilizer
• A 15 litre pot, give or take

Planting instructions

Fill up the pot with compost leaving space for your plants. Place one plant on the top surface to test if you have left enough space, if not take compost out or add some more if you have gone over the amount. Remember you will be pressing the plants down when you plant them and the level will go down. Arrange the plants as per your design preferences and rearrange as needed – once in it will be messy to rearrange so you need to get this right. Press them down gently and fill up the gaps around them with compost pressing down and filling up as you go. Make sure the edges are properly filled up by using your fingers to press the compost in. Water in well and enjoy its beauty!

Petunias are one of the favourite bedding plants in this country and I can understand why. They have big showy flowers bred to take on so many different and attractive colours, many of them with stripes or even in this case stars. I’m not too fond of the stripy or too overdressed ones but ‘Night Sky’ has really taken the number one place for me.

The varieties you see in the garden centers and in seasonal planting schemes in parks are used as bedding plants. Many think they are annuals when in truth, like so many other bedding plants, they are perennials used as a seasonal plants to be discarded at the end of the season.

Deadheading them can be the downside though. Petunias are sticky and if you are asked to deadhead them for a few hours like I have been in my past gardening jobs, you can end up quite frustrated with the stickiness. But, knowing that the end result will be more flowers can be encouraging. Best thing is to deadhead them by hand, you can also wear thin gloves if you don’t want the stickiness on your fingers. If you use your secateurs or a similar tool, the blades will end up sticking every time you deadhead one or two and it will become extremely annoying to continue the task. I wouldn’t want you to give up, they will keep flowering the whole season if you take care of them.

Watering is also an art in itself. For any seasonal pots I always add some water storage crystals to my compost mixture. These particles have a very clever way of retaining water when you do your scheduled watering and releasing it when their surrounding compost starts to dry out. The only thing to watch out is not to overwater. Best thing is to check the compost dryness level buy testing it with your hand, if the compost feels dry it’s time to do some watering. Also watch out for any dry weather spells coming up, don’t forget about your plants when this happens!

Top tips to succeed with your Hippy Pot

• Keep deadheading when flowers are over
• Add a crystal gel to the compost mixture
• Don’t over water or you’ll end up with more foliage than flower
• Add some scent with plants like Nemesia Arrange plants in a way that Petunia ‘Night Sky’ r or its equivalent shines but doesn’t take over

I hope you enjoy making the Hippy Pot. Make sure you have a look at it at night too, you will see how it glows in the dark!

Keep planting and see you here again next week,

Your Potty Potter.