About Trailing Petunia

From a 12' × 12' Greenhouse to a Working Production Nursery

Trailing Petunia started more than 18 years ago with a simple 12' × 12' greenhouse and a love of growing plants from seed.

In the beginning, we grew small tomato plants from seed and sold them to people we worked with at a local mill. We quickly saw how much interest there was in locally grown plants and how many people were looking for additional varieties.

So we started growing more.

What began as something small became a true passion for us. Growing plants is something we genuinely enjoy, and one of the most rewarding parts of what we do is helping other people learn how to successfully start seeds and grow their own plants.

Over the years, that little greenhouse grew into a working production nursery in Elma, Washington, with more than 10,000 square feet of greenhouse growing space.

Today, Trailing Petunia and our nursery operation grow plants on a much larger scale while remaining a small, hands-on business.

Around 80,000 Pots Grown Each Season

During a typical growing season, our nursery produces approximately 80,000 pots in a variety of sizes.

That includes more than 40,000 4-inch pots each season, along with thousands of plants grown in other container sizes.

We grow a wide range of annuals, vegetables, flowering plants, and specialty varieties for the gardening season.

This isn't just a seed business for us. We're growers too.

Every season we're sowing, transplanting, watering, fertilizing, monitoring, and finishing thousands upon thousands of plants in our own greenhouses.

Hundreds of Plug Trays Every Season

Seed starting is a major part of what we do.

Each season, we produce hundreds of plug trays, with much of our seed production grown in high-density 200-cell and 288-cell trays.

We also grow many plug trays specifically for cut-flower farmers, helping growers get a head start with young plants ready for transplanting into their fields, high tunnels, and production areas.

These trays include many popular cut-flower varieties, giving us firsthand experience growing flowers from the earliest germination stages through transplant-ready plugs.

For plants started from vegetative cuttings, we also use 105-cell trays.

Growing at this scale gives us practical experience with germination, seedling development, transplanting, and finishing plants for production.

It also means that many of the seeds we offer through Trailing Petunia aren't varieties we've only seen in a catalog. We grow many of them ourselves.

More Than 2,500 Hanging Baskets a Season

Hanging baskets are another major part of our nursery operation.

We produce more than 2,500 hanging baskets each season, using many different flowering varieties and combinations.

From starting tiny seeds and young plants to producing a finished hanging basket ready for someone's porch or garden, we're involved throughout the growing process.

That experience is especially valuable when selecting varieties for hanging baskets, containers, gardens, and landscape use.

More Than 3,000 Seed Varieties

Trailing Petunia offers more than 3,000 varieties of seeds, giving home gardeners, cut-flower growers, and larger producers an extensive selection to choose from.

We purchase seed from established suppliers in larger quantities. Seed used in our nursery production comes from many of these same varieties, while additional seed is packaged into smaller quantities so gardeners don't have to purchase commercial-size packages.

This allows our customers to access many professional and specialty varieties in practical quantities for home gardens, cut-flower gardens, containers, hanging baskets, and smaller growing operations.

Germination Matters to Us

When you're growing thousands of plants, seed quality and germination are extremely important.

Our suppliers perform germination testing, and we also pay close attention to germination and performance through our own growing operation.

We understand how frustrating it can be to spend weeks preparing for a growing season only to have poor results.

At the same time, successful germination depends on proper temperature, moisture, light, planting depth, growing medium, storage, and other environmental conditions. That's why we encourage gardeners to learn the particular germination requirements of each variety they grow.

Helping people learn is an important part of what we enjoy about this business. Whether someone is starting their first tray of seeds or growing thousands of plants for a cut-flower operation, we're happy to share what we've learned from our own years of growing.

Our experience actually growing many of these varieties gives us practical knowledge that goes beyond simply selling a packet of seeds.

Explore Our Gardening Resource Library — More Than 2,000 Growing Guides

Helping gardeners learn has become a major part of Trailing Petunia.

Over the years, we have built an extensive gardening resource library with more than 2,000 articles and growing guides covering seeds, flowers, vegetables, plant care, and common gardening problems.

Our gardening guides cover topics such as:

• How to start seeds
• Seed germination temperatures and requirements
• When to plant seeds
• Flower growing guides
• Vegetable gardening
• Cut-flower gardening
• Growing flowers for bouquets
• Hanging baskets and container gardening
• Petunia growing and care
• Lisianthus growing and seed starting
• Snapdragon growing
• Pansy and viola growing
• Zinnia and sunflower growing
• Tomato and pepper growing
• Plant spacing
• Watering and fertilizing
• Garden pests and diseases
• Troubleshooting seed germination
• Seasonal gardening
• Growing by USDA Hardiness Zone

Our goal is to provide gardeners with more than a place to buy seeds. We want Trailing Petunia to be a place where gardeners can find seeds, learn how to grow them, solve gardening problems, and discover new plants to grow.

Many of our articles are based on the same questions and challenges we encounter while growing plants in our own nursery.

Whether you're wondering how to start flower seeds indoors, when to plant a particular variety, how to grow cut flowers, why a plant isn't blooming, or how to care for seedlings after germination, our growing guides are designed to help.

And we're continually adding new gardening information as we grow and learn each season.

See What We're Growing on YouTube

Want to see what happens behind the scenes at our nursery?

Visit the Trailing Petunia YouTube channel, where we share videos from our greenhouses and gardens, including seed starting, plant growing, gardening tips, variety information, and a look at what we're growing throughout the season.

We enjoy sharing our real-world growing experience and helping other gardeners learn from what we're doing in our own nursery.

Watch and subscribe to Trailing Petunia on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@TrailingPetunia

Still a Small Business — And Still Our Passion

Even though our operation has grown considerably since that first 12' × 12' greenhouse more than 18 years ago, Trailing Petunia is still a small business located in Elma, Washington.

What started with a few tomato plants has grown into an operation producing approximately:

80,000 pots each season • 40,000+ 4-inch pots • Hundreds of plug trays • 2,500+ hanging baskets • Over 3,000+ seed varieties • 2,000+ gardening guides

The size of the operation may have changed, but our passion for growing hasn't.

We genuinely enjoy growing plants, trying different varieties, learning from every season, and helping other gardeners and growers learn along the way.

For us, this has always been about more than selling seeds. It's about growing something from a tiny seed, sharing what we've learned, and helping other people experience that same enjoyment and success in their own gardens and growing operations.

Thank you for supporting Trailing Petunia and allowing us to continue doing something we truly enjoy.

From our greenhouses to your garden — happy growing!