My million bells went into a midsummer heat slump, but now they are just blooming like crazy. And no, I haven't pruned. They are currently just rioting all over a container which also has 'Lady in Red' Salvia and some hardy mums in it--the combo is fun and bright. I haven't ever tried Torenia.

I'll third the Million Bells. I've already nixed petunias and had none this year.
I don't deadhead my Torenia and it keeps blooming.

For the past two years I've used Torenia on my east facing porch and they have bloomed all summer with no deadheading. I will definitely use them from now on.
As for Million Bells, I've never had any luck with them but I love them.

This was my first year with both torenia and million bells (calibrachoa). I will DEFINITELY be getting both again next year!

I was told that calibrachoa could/should get a little dry between waterings, but I noticed that there's a fine line between "a little dry" and "too dry". If they got too dry I had a lot of die-off... but pruning the dead matter off and keeping them moist resulted in a rebloom and regrowth, at least for the pink ones (see below). This year I had hanging baskets that I purchased ready-made, but next year I'll get some 4" pots and plant them into baskets myself so that I can add some moisture crystals.

I also learned that they LOVE nitrogen -- definitely want to feed these babies some bloodmeal or other heavy-nitrogen additive. I never deadheaded my calibrachoa, other than pruning off dead branches, and I had blooms all summer.

One more thing that I noticed -- the pink ones I had did A LOT better than the white ones, even though they were side-by-side and alternating across the front of our house. (Even my greenhouse guru couldn't understand it -- she was at our house for a pool party last month and she said it must just be a fluke of the genetics.) The white ones I couldn't get to bounce back from a dry spell, and they just looked too scraggly next to the pink ones, which did bounce back. (I think I had the "Callie" hybrid.) Next year I'll get all the same color so I don't end up with mismatched growth again.

My torenia also never required deadheading -- I can't even imagine keeping up on all those little blooms everywhere! And same as with the calibrachoa, I found that torenia doesn't like to get dried out at all, but if they do start to die back they also respond well to lots of water and pruning off the dead matter.

I had a major knee injury that sometimes impacted my ability to water my containers this summer (thank goodness I managed to get my soaker hoses set up a few days before my knee blew out, so at least my in-the-ground plants didn't suffer). I'm hoping to be back up to "normal" next year, but I'll be planting everything with moisture crystals just in case -- this summer taught me that you have to be prepared for any eventuality!

Interesting observations on deadheading them. I don't know how they continued to bloom without doing so. I, too have had lots of health issues this summer, so things didn't get the care I would love to give them. Here's hoping for a better spring........

Just chiming in on torenia-

I tried it 10 years ago with no luck-gave it a shot again this year because the clown blue variety was just so darn cute I had to have it, and of course, it was love. She is still blooming her silly head off-but it was slow going at first.

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No deadheading at all-no way you can keep up with it. She would bloom like crazy then go brown for a short spell-thought for sure she had died from bloom attack-was sorely tempted to deadhead at that point-but I let her be and sure enough, she came back stronger than ever. She's taken over the whole container, as if cabbage palm and coleus didn't exist. She is a tad leggy right now-considering a slight haircut to shape her up. Definitely a keeper.

early summer photo

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bren

I planted a half dozen pink and blue torenias in my front bed...they get about two hours of good early afternoon sun. They grew well, and I'll try them again next year, probably in other places to see how they do. I like them, they're a nice lively little flower, and for me at least relatively low maintenance. This was my first summer in Florida after living in Michigan, and the gardening is definitely different down here.

My torenia also have slow starts but once the roots break out of that cell pack formation, they really do well. They have mildewed for me in wet, damp weather but I would still get them. I don't deadhead them either.

We're getting close to frost, so I dug a couple of torenias out of an outside planter and put them into a hanging basket in the greenhouse. They're blooming profusely but looking leggy. If I cut them back at this time of year, will I get more blooms or should I just enjoy the blooms they have? The greenhouse will probably stay above 40 for the next six weeks or so. How low a temperature can they survive?

MJ