Petunia Volunteers?

[KD_Olive]

Hi all! Thanks for accepting me into the group! Let me fill you in on what I have going on... I live in North/Central Alabama, pretty much right on the border of zone 7-8.. The weather here has been in the 60's and 70's lately, so of course I wanted to get out and tidy up around the house... I was raking the oak leaves from my flower beds in front of my house, and I saw what I thought to be little Petunias (along with a lot of weeds, haha!) coming up? I mean, it's February 3rd?! There are at least 100 or so... I was shocked...am I correct in identifying these? If so, I'm going to need help caring for them because I killed every petunia in my bed last year, lol!

 

[KD_Olive]

ah, here we go...

 

[thistlebloom]

Welcome KD_Olive! I hope you do have lots of volunteer petunias, I know that they can reseed and you have a great climate for making them happy.
Looking forward to getting to know you and hear about your garden adventures!

 

[Jared77]

It's possible. They come up all sorts of places. This was outside my station a few summers ago.

 

[KD_Olive]

Thanks guys! That's crazy Jared77, lol! Can you tell if the foilage on the image I posted are young petunias? I had such bad luck with them last year that I was thinking of starting over with California Poppies (the soil around here is poor and full of sandstone.) But I wouldn't want to rip them out if they are petunia seedlings.

 

[KD_Olive]

The leaves are slightly fuzzy as well...

 

[KD_Olive]

Last year, They grew beautifully and looked like this..

 

[KD_Olive]

And then around July, this started happening. They eventually all died.

 

[catjac1975]

View attachment 11220 And then around July, this started happening. They eventually all died.

You did not kill them. They do not like hot weather. Even here in the north they often dry up in the heat. To me your temperatures don't qualify as winter. Haha. Check your plants closely. They may not be seedlings, they may be the old plants reviving themselves. Petunias are quite cold tolerant. The simple forms reseed easily , also. I would go out and get more seeds and toss them on the surface of the soil. When they start to die back clip the plants short. If you dead head they will rebloo more robustly. Welcome

 

[ninnymary]

They look like petunias to me!

Mary