I saved the seeds from several types of trailing petunias last year and sowed them in my greenhouse this spring. I knew they would be all shapes and sizes, but ended up with over 240 free petunias and all of them were worthy of planting. I let them come to bloom in pots so I'd have a clue what they'd look like before I set them out or put them in baskets. Many still have a trailing habit, many were various shades of purple from the softest lavender to the darkest burgundy. Some were a lovely plum, a few white, lots of pinks, and a few reds..... and I got a few variegated ones as well. I surely didn't have to buy any this year and sitting out in their urns, baskets and in the ground, sorted as to what I wanted where, they look just as nice in a more old-fashioned and slightly blowsy way as the pricey ones they replaced from last year.

You can make the soil more acidic by adding sulphur. I know that the color of French hydrangeas is determined by soil PH - acid soil makes blue flowers, alkaline makes pink flowers, neutral makes purple ones. I've never heard of that being the case with butterfly bush. Many of the pictures you see in catalogs and on-line are enhanced to make the flowers look more like the desired color. Most butterfly bush flowers are different shades of purple - the white ones and yellow ones being the obvious exception - but nurserymen always want to have the first true red one, or true blue one, or true pink one. Another important factor is heat. My Ellen's Blue is a vibrant shade of almost true blue, only a slight hint of purple, in springtime. Now, in this summer heat, the flowers have faded. My roses do the same way - vivid colors in spring, pallid ones in summer. So, if you've been having hot weather in your area, yours will improve this fall and next spring. Sherry

I just painted a sample of repose grey on the wall and I’m seeing the same thing. Very blue. Living room faces south. I googled pics of repose grey and I see pictures that don’t look anything like each other- “I like that repose grey... oooo not THAT repose Grey.” The first pic is a no go... the second pic is what I love. I’m no designer but I’m seeing a warmer color with more green undertones in the pic I like. I guess repose is just not for me. 😓

According to my iPhone photo data, the ‘before’ was taken at 1:54 and the ‘after’ at 1:06 so pretty darn close! Natural light only and the same overcast conditions. Not a single light bulb was on in the house. The goal was to replicate the photos so I specifically did not take the ‘after’ shot on a sunny day. My husband originally argued against changing the trim to save money. The previous owner painted the walls the same color as the trim so it was hard to tell what it would look like with the greige we picked out. I was unhappy with the way it looked and read every topic discussion on here about why it looked blue. In my searching here and on google I found someone else who had cream trim that gray looked blue next to. She changed hers to white and it appeared more gray. We gave it a shot and were blown away. I just posted this to try to help someone in the same situation.