Petunia

flowers · South America · gardens

South American origin. Petunias come all the way from South America and were brought to gardens around the world because people loved their bright colors and pretty shapes.

Name from tobacco. The word petunia comes from pétun, which means tobacco in the Tupi and Guarani languages of South America. French explorers picked up this word and it became the flower's name.

Tender perennial plant. Petunias are tender perennials, which means they're actually perennials that can't handle freezing winter temperatures, so gardeners usually grow them as annuals.

Garden hybrids. Most petunias you see in gardens aren't pure species but hybrids, which means they're created by mixing different petunia varieties to get new colors and shapes.

Twenty wild species. The genus includes 20 different wild petunia species in nature, though most of the ones we grow are specially bred combinations of these species.