The scientific name for the petunia is Petunia x hybrida. Petunias are trumpet-like flowers and come in a variety of colors. These beautiful flowers can add a lot of color to flower beds, baskets or window boxes.

Petunias do best in full sun with a medium amount of water. They're quite prolific and can easily cover a 12 to 15 inch radius.

	If you take the time to read the Lesson of the Morning Glory, I wonder if you'll find a similarity between the two flowers. Are they the same? If anybody knows for sure, please drop me an email. What I find similar is the way the Petunia is open during the day and tends to close at night. So, like the Morning Glory, it blooms for only one day and dies.

Characteristics of a Petunia Flower

Petunias are "trumpet-like" flowers due to their resemblence to the flared end of a trumpet where the sound comes out. Also, like the trumpet, the flower is solid in appearance - ie: not made up of multiple petals. There are 5 straight lines that runs down the center of each what you might call a petal, if it were seperated, that forms a star pattern. Sometimes these lines are a different color than the rest of the flower. I think this is the difference between a Pansy and a Petunia. I could be wrong so I'm leaving this open to correction. :-)

Another thing about the Petunia is the abundance of flower heads that grow on it. I've yet to count how many there are throughout a season, but I imagine there must be a couple of hundred between spring and the end of summer. Again, I leave this open to correction.