Imagine: “I’m in the mood for something different in our window boxes this year,” he said.

“Purple, lime green and white,” she said.

“You can never go wrong with purple,” he agreed.

Name: Supertunia^® Picasso in Blue^® aka Petunia hybrid ‘USTUN75102’

Type of Plant: An annual plant from Proven Winners that mounds in the ground and trails over edges of pots. Does best in part-sun to full sun.

Why I love this plant: I’m not sure I’d have named it “Picasso in Blue” because it’s really pretty much purple. But perhaps it was named for the artist’s blue period, between 1900 and 1904…to my knowledge Picasso never had a purple period. In any case, I love this petunia for several reasons. First, of course, is the lime-green edge around the purple flowers. Secondly, I like the fact that this type of petunia doesn’t have to be deadheaded…the flowers fall off when wilted and you don’t have to remove any developing seeds to keep it flowering.

A Word to the Wise: These plants benefit from two things thorough the summer: regular fertilization, and periodically cutting three of the longer stems in half. If you don’t want to mix up liquid fertilizers, I recommend planting with equal parts of Proven Winners time-release fertilizer (or a similar time-release with a higher amount of nitrogen and low phosphorous…annuals are nitrogen hogs!) and Plant-tone. (I use about a tablespoon of each per plant, mixed into the soil before planting in the garden, or into the pot in containers.)

Trimming back the longer stems every two to three weeks helps promote new growth, which is good since petunias flower at the ends of new growth.

I think that this petunia is especially pretty growing with the lacy Diamond Frost Euphorbia (Euphorbia hypericifolia ‘Inneuphe’)

Lime green edges on purple petals with blue-black centers. What’s not to love? Plant this petunia with something lacy and white, such as the Diamond Frost Euphorbia. A splash of orange would also be great…Vermillionaire Cuphea, for example.

Here is how this pot of Picasso in Blue looked in mid-July. It was planted with about 3 Tablespoons of a time-release fertilizer and 3 Tablespoons of Plant-tone mixed in the pot (about 2 feet square) before the plants were put in.