‘Surfinia’ and ‘tidal wave’ petunia - what’s the difference?
squirral87k4-WvGwT
Posts: 167
in Plants
Hi,
what’s the difference between ‘surfinia’ and ‘tidal wave’ petunias? It seems both don’t need deadheading so I’m not sure what the difference is…
what’s the difference between ‘surfinia’ and ‘tidal wave’ petunias? It seems both don’t need deadheading so I’m not sure what the difference is…
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Wave and Surfinia (and Supertunia) are brand names for different marketed groups of petunia.
Wave petunias were introduced in the US in 1995 by Ball Horticultural (USA), and Surfinia petunias in 2006 by MNP/Suntory (Japan). Tidal Wave petunias have the largest flowers and are the most upright of the Wave series (image below from https://gardeninginthemud.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/plant-of-the-month-trailing-petunias/ lists sizes).
Wave petunias are described as aggressive ground covering annuals that can be grown from seed, making them a more affordable option than Surfinias which are vegetatively propagated. Wave petunias were original developed as ground cover and they also work well as container flowers such as in hanging baskets with the online advice not to mix them, or to mix them with equally aggressive plants, as Wave will otherwise choke them out. Surfinias are said to have a more controlled draping and trailing habit, be more weather resistant, and can more happily mix with other plants in a hanging basket. Both don’t require deadheading.
Some more discussion on the differences here: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1375780/surfinia-vs-wave
https://www.wavegardening.com/howto/PlantingWaveBaskets.aspx
The site in the first link in my earlier post, which is about using petunias for hanging baskets, says:
“Waves were bred as groundcover petunias (although they perform well in containers), and they have longer internodes than the Supertunias, so the greater distance between growth points–and flowers–gives them a more open look. Waves also have more slender, flexible internodes than vegetatively propagated petunias, which translates to possibly greater wind resistance. My Wave petunias have endured some punishing winds with no stem breakage.”
Meanwhile in the second link in my earlier post, the Surfinia marketing-speak is:
“Because of the breeding of Surfinia petunias, and all the research we do, we feel quite certain that our petunias do not get leggy, or stretch, simply because the distance between the nodes in the branching remain short, or certainly much shorter than competitors like Wave petunias.
Surfinia petunias are bred to stay compact in habit, and that is what they do. even our trailing petunias that can grow as long as eight feet across, retain the short node habit, so there is more branching and more even flowering throughout the plant.
Most competing petunias do have a tendency to stretch and get leggy, particularly towards the dog days of Summer, while Surfinia petunias retain their compactness.”