I walked through downtown Wooster, Ohio earlier today and was reminded once more of our debt to petunia breeders and petuniacal horticulturists of the past decade or two. Wow, planters and hanging baskets of incredible colors, shapes and sustained beauty throughout the summer. It’s bloomin’ crazy! The genus Petunia and its cousin the “mini-petunia” genus Calibrachoa rule. Both genera are native to South America and are in the Solanaceae (the nightshade family) with tell-tale funnel-like flowers: Some taxonomists even classify the two genera in the genus Petchoa but others consider the chromosomes different enough to merit separation. Whatever system you follow, petunias and mini-petunias rank high with me – and many a city beautification horticulturist.