I've not seen this petunia in person, but the pictures look awful! ;-) I HAVE seen one of the 'velvet' cultivars with a very deep purple color and thought it very elegant.

Are your flowers a 'real' black black or tinged with a hue of some sort? With what kinds of plants do you have it planted?

Interesting.

I've never seen them but I know they are definitely not my cup of tea. I grow flowers for their colorful beauty. A black flower would leave me cold.

The flowers are black velvet black and very elegant. :) I thought the black would look nice in some black and white combination. The problem was finding plants that were environmentally compatible. With one of the locations I planted it I mixed it with Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost', and White Portulaca in a bed against a brick wall with southern exposure. I also did a container with Lobilaria 'Snow Princess'. With black flowers, you need to think outside the box. I think they are great accents. Next year I would like to attempt a deep maroon mix.

I agree with Taitai.

I have a black and white sitting room and a mix of black and white petunias in a red pot would be stunning.

I like the 'shock' factors (different, odd, unusual) in the garden, I will have to try these out for next year.

Thank you for the post!

Keriann~

Gosh, I got the impression they would be released for general sales in 2011. How did you come on the plant?

Yeah, Rhizo..........they are pretty darned black and not just a murky purple and they live up to their name.

Do I like them? No, not particularly. I have had black flowers in my line and they usually sell decently, mostly because of their shock value. This year I grew a black and white dianthus and the black pansies I used to grow had an eager market too. Until the novelty wore off.

I trial all my new varieties in my own gardens and my impression on the black dianthus is you don't even notice them in the landscape in broad daylight, because the bloom does not contrast well against the dark foliage. When it's dawn or dusk.........the blooms all but disappear, even when planted against a backdrop of plants with lime green foliage.

But, they look to be a well behaved plant, and for those wanting something different, I'm sure they'll be popular for awhile.

I received some as samples this Spring from Ball Floraplant (the breeder). They are definitely best in a mixed container, horrid as monoculture. We planted with Eucalyptus, white calibrachoa and lemon lantana. The habit on the petunias is pretty cruddy, but it is all about the color. Definitely novelty, best up close, as the black disappears from a distance. I probably won't buy them, but in terms of genetic breakthroughs and innovative breeding, they are winners.

I just bought a planter at Wal-Mart and it has black petunias and another one that is black with a chartreuse star emanating from the center. It also has Diamond Frost euphorbia.

I was on my way to the car when I saw it, but I went back and bought it because I had never seen anything like it.

If I could figure out how to post photos here, I would.

It is a real eye-catcher.