Cigar-Smoking Petunias

Ha, ha ha, that sounds dreadful! Actually, the title of this entry is The Life Cycle of a Petunia Bloom. The cigars don't come in till the end of the life cycle. The roses are getting eaten by disgusting Japanese Beetles and every day I go out and swat them off. So this entry is focusing on a different plant than roses until I figure out how I'm supposed to annihilate the entire Japanese Beetle population within 50 miles.

Right now, the Cascadia Petunias are blooming nicely. Note the cascade of white blossoms over the railing, like a clear waterfall rushing over green moss with white, foamy bubbles in the spray.

Ah yes, the blossoms are in their prime. It won't last though.




















First, the petunia blossom begins all crumpled up, like a piece of pleated and crushed silk.












The blossom lengthens and the end thins out and whitens.














The end starts to open up.
And then...


























Ah yes, they have reached their full glory!

Which lasts approximately one day and then come Petunia Decline.
Which isn't nearly as pretty.









But first, check out the center of these pretties.


My, what green lips you have, Miss Petunia! The green pistil in the center of this flower reminds me of the big-lipped, singing creature in Star Wars, Sy Snootles. If only a Petunia could sing...



Remember Banana Flips from the 70's, a soft, round, cake-texture cookie folded in half around a fluffy cream filling? The stamens of the petunias look just like Banana Flips! The stamens pop open and flip inside out so the pollen filling is on the outside. Yum. This photo was taken before the flip.



After peak performance comes Petunia Decline. It's not so bad. Instead of nice, white bubbles with clear water, the cascading blossom looks rather like muddy water.



It gets worse.


The blossom shrivels further and looks very sickly.

But the worst stage is the last...



Right before The End, the petunia smokes a cigar. Ghastly!

Now why would such a pretty gal sully her looks by smoking a cigar?
Yesterday I spent over an hour pulling cigars away from the petunias. tsk, tsk.








I read somewhere that if the spent blooms are removed, the plant will produce more flowers. I can't imagine doing this job daily but it was very satisfying thinking my chore might create more flowers. Actually, from across the deck, you can't even see the cigars anyway.



Behind the spent bloom is the beginning of the next bloom. It looks like a little green nub.









The nub gets longer and the cycle starts all over again. Daily.





















When they're not smoking cigars, the Life Cycle of a Petunia is a gorgeous, constant foamy waterfall.