Thanks everyone. I'm glad I can let them grow. I don't see the purpose of over-wintering if I'm just going to take a "stump" out next spring. I want to take some big-ol trees out. :) The aphids are wicked and I have the soap spray right next to them. I get a little scared with those hot lights and the spray, though. If I do a big wash, I move the plants away first. I wish there was a natural predator I could put down there for them. I took two cuttings last week to see if I could propagate. I think they took, because they still look awesome and it has been over a week. Maybe I'll pull back some soil tonight and see if they have roots. If they do, I'm going to do some more.

I did not write the date I started the seeds. My bad - however, I think it was just last month. I have photographs of cotyledons so I can pinpoint within a few days. I use freeze-dried seaweed as a fertilizer which I got on eBay, reconstituted in water and further diluted at time of use. I used worm castings as a top dressing one time. I think purpureas are r-strategists when it comes to reproduction so they do not need much for fertilizer but do tell me what you all use ok? Joseph

I have one that overwintered outdoors last year.

Good show, come March you can take all sorts of cuttings! I have easily rooted cuttings in ProMix in approximately ten days or so. Before the ground had froze, I dug up several small volunteer petunia seedlings and potted them up, as I had been quite impressed with the bloom color and variation of some of them, too good to let perish! These little guys are in the basement window, while my large stock plants rest in the attached unheated garage where the temps hovers just above freezing.