Brighten up your landscape with the season-long blooms of calibrachoas. You may know these miniature petunia-like plants as Million Bells® and Superbells®. They are a cousin of the petunia that pack lots of beauty with very little maintenance.
The compact mounded plants are covered with one inch trumpet shaped bronze, orange, yellow, red to pink and magenta to blue flowers all season long. And best of all, no deadheading needed.
Grow them in hanging baskets or use as spillers and fillers in container gardens. They also work well in the garden when grown in well-drained soil. Use them as an edger, annual groundcover for small areas or colorful additions to rock gardens.
Purchase a ready made hanging basket or container or create your own. Plant individual plants among other annuals and perennials flowers. Or group several calibroachoas together for greater impact.
And don’t worry about the heat. This South American native thrives in hot dry weather once established. Water plants thoroughly once the top few inches of soil start to dry. Overwatering, especially in poorly drainage can lead to root rot.
Use a slow release fertilizer at planting. This is often enough to feed garden plants throughout the season. Give container and in-ground plants a mid season boost if leaves start to yellow or plants appear less vigorous.
So add a few of these low maintenance beauties to your containers or landscape plantings. You are sure to enjoy the continuous bloom and the hummingbirds that come to visit.
At a Glance
Name: Calibrachoa also known as Million Bells® and Superbells®
Size: 3 to 12” tall by 6 to 24” wide, depending on the variety
Light: Full sun for maximum flowering
Water: Water thoroughly when soil begins to dry, Drought tolerant
Soil: Well-drained soil
Written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers. Melinda Myers is a nationally recognized gardening expert with more than 30 years of horticulture experience. She is a wealth of knowledge and we are pleased to share Melinda’s Low Maintenance Plant of the Month with you!
