Bicoloured petunias are amongst the most colourful of all petunias for summer containers but in most varieties the colouring is unstable, ruining the display. The British-bred Corona Series, from Mr Fothergill's, changes all that. (Click the pictures to enlarge them.)
So often the picture in the catalogue is nothing like what you see in the garden because changing weather causes the neat bicoloured patterns to revert to a single colour.
But ace British petunia breeder David Kerley, who introduced ‘Priscilla' and the many other Tumbelina petunias as well as the Fanfare Series, has spent the last eleven years creating the Corona Series - whose colours are stable.
"These varieties give an extra bright display by virtue of the contrasting rings of lighter or deeper colour surrounding the centres of the flowers," David told me, "and the colour does not vary all season. The ring pattern is stable in many different environmental conditions, unlike many bicoloured petunias.
"Compact and blooming profusely all summer, all the varieties are early flowering when compared to Surfinia. The habit is mounding and semi-trailing, which means the top of the plant does not become bald - there are always flowers in the crown of the plant, not just at the ends of the stems.
"Great for troughs, planters, window boxes and balcony boxes, where they will spill over the edge without becoming very long and untidy. Three variations available now, with more to come in the future."
Three colours are available this year. ‘Corona Amethyst' (top), with large frilly purple flowers with a white edge, ‘Corona Rose Rim' (middle), in bright rose pink with a white centre and fine white edge, ‘Corona Salmon Rim' (left), in salmon pink with a white centre and fine white edge.
You can buy a collection of plants of all three colours of Petunia Corona Series from Mr Fothergill's
You can buy plants of Petunia ‘Corona Amethyst' from Mr Fothergill's
You can buy plants of Petunia ‘Corona Rose Rim' from Mr Fothergill's
You can buy plants of Petunia ‘Corona Salmon Rim' from Mr Fothergill's