petunia

noun

pe·tu·nia | \ pi-ˈtün-yə

, -ˈtyün-\

Definition of petunia

: any of a genus (Petunia) of tropical South American herbs of the nightshade family that are commonly grown as annuals for their fragrant, colorful, trumpet-shaped flowers

Examples of petunia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Rabbits love to munch on everything from broccoli and beans to pansies and petunias. — Jill Gleeson, Country Living, "How to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Garden," 30 Jan. 2019 By artificially enhancing the strigolactone within these plants, the petunias were able to bloom. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "An Alliance of Plants and Fungus Could Be the Key to Farming in Space," 19 Oct. 2018 Petunia Starting petunias from seed opens the door to a wide world of beautiful, tubular flowers in shades ranging from striking magenta to subdued lavender to pure white. — The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, "13 Annual Flowers You Can Easily Grow From Seeds," 2 June 2016 There's difficulty to this process: Microgravity affects mycorrhization and reducing how much protein the petunias could accept. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "An Alliance of Plants and Fungus Could Be the Key to Farming in Space," 19 Oct. 2018 The Proven Winners brand demonstrates this in one such recipe, with two plants of a yellow bidens, two plants of a rose-pink calibrachoa and one deep-purple petunia planted in a 16-inch pot. — Adrian Higgins, sacbee, "Container culture – these pots do lots | The Sacramento Bee," 11 May 2018 Supertunia Royal Velvet, Red or White petunias are good selections. — Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, Indianapolis Star, "The Hoosier Gardener: Plant your red, white and blue," 3 July 2018 Hot pink is the color of tropical Key West, from the garish bougainvillea spilling over every fence and wall to the petunias and hibiscus in its lush gardens to the houses and buildings themselves, gaily painted in every shade of pink. — Lee Smith, Southern Living, "WATCH: Memories of My Summer of 1958 in Paradise," 19 June 2018 They can be found on potatoes, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, and petunias throughout North America. — The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, "10 Most Destructive Garden Insects And How To Get Rid Of Them," 3 June 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'petunia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.