I have Laura Bush Petunia seeds for you. You will receive an email soon. Margaret

Hi katy bug, have you had a chance to look at the negative comments posted on ebay for this seller? If other seeds are not quite right, this one might not be either. I recently bought Laura Bush seeds from the very reputable Wildseed Farms in Texas, where they sell a choice of Laura Bush magenta, pink or mix (magenta, pink, white), $1.50/packet, but do not sell the Laura Bush white seeds separately. The advantage of Laura Bush is supposed to be superior heat tolerance and re-seeding in warm climates like mine - my first yr so I will have to see! I guess disadvantage is that there are only the 3 colors above. No personal knowledge of this company but happened to notice Select Seeds has a fragrant, climbing, heirloom petunia that they claim self-sows. Search for "petunia seed" on the link below or you may have your own fave places to buy. Or what about the wave series? Sorry, I haven't tried that. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Select Seeds

It's 72 right now. We've got rain in the forecast this evening falling into the mid 50s. Almost all my annuals have sprouted, except Pride of Barbados. I was really hoping to add this semi-tropical to my garden this year. I guess I'll just have to make do with petunias, salvias, agastache, cosmos, echinacea, and the other 100+ varieties I can't completely remember. I made no lists. I kept no records. Whatever grows, grows. I'm not about to be a coddler or worry much about it. The method works. ;)

I've linked an old magazine article from the early 2000s that goes into great detail about the development of the Laura Bush petunia. I grew the V.I.P. petunia in Texas in the mid-1990s, and after a couple of years it seemed to disappear from commercial sales. I don't know why. Then, suddenly, we had the Laura Bush petunia, which seemed similar to V.I.P. A couple of years later, Wildseed Farm started offering the seed and I found out that VIP was one of the parents of the Laura Bush petunia. I used to grow all kinds of petunias, including the old-fashioned vining types, Rainmaster and the newer Wave series, but they all ran out of steam in early summer and needed to be replaced. Laura Bush doesn't run out of steam. However, if you'll cut it back very hard (I usually cut between 1/3 and 1/2) every couple of months, it will regrow very quickly and rebloom and look better than ever. Every time you cut it back, it seems to come back stronger. I really love this flower and it always has bees and pollinators buzzing all around it. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Gardener Magazine article on Laura Bush Petunia