"Me Again" wrote in message
...

Probably within 2 days of first planting them, the flowers up and
died. Knowing next to nothing about how plants work, I considered
pulling the whole bit up but I'm glad I didn't. It turns out that the
leafy part was still alive, but the flowers had basically closed up
and shrivelled away as far as I can tell. About a week later, the
flowers were coming back and I thought great, maybe they'll start to
spread like I want 'em to. But no, about half a week later, those
flowers died, too.

Petunia flowers last a very short time BUT, if you pluck the wilted pedals
along with the stem they are attached to the main stem with, to halt seed
production, they will give a continuous blanket of blooms from spring to
frost. Never water the tops, only watering at ground level. With heavy rain
you may lose most blooms for a couple of days, but then the new buds are
opening for a new full blanket. Again, the secret to petunias is keeping the
wilted blooms picked off along with a part of the stem to prevent seed
production.

Tom J