Superbells Coral Sun made its debut in 2020 and has been racking up awards from north to south. By that I mean Top Performer from Michigan State to Mississippi State and you can add Perfect Score at University of Tennessee and Director's Select at Penn State. Now that I have grown it for a few years, The Garden Guy can give it a "Holy wow" too!
Like most of the Superbells, it can reach 12 inches tall with a spread of 24 inches, though I can give it one exception to that rule. I planted one in the spring of 2022 and it was huge one year later. I am clueless as to how it made it a whole year, other than its temperature tolerances stayed within the threshold. I say that, but I love planting them in October if I can get them. They seem perfect for my Georgia zone 8 garden. (Arkansas is in zones 6-8 with most of the state in zone 8.) I really believe growers and gardeners alike are missing a real opportunity.
Superbells Coral Sun has proven itself, as have most of the rest in the series, at having a natural attraction for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. You have to admit there is nothing quite like seeing Spicebush swallowtails feeding on the Coral Sun blossoms.
Though spring is about 24 days away, I am already sensing a little anxiety in the garden world centered around the orange-flowered Supertunia Persimmon. The flaming orange and yellow blossoms seem to have taken the garden world by storm. The anxiety however is centered on the ability to find them in the marketplace.
Well, enter the Superbells Coral Sun calibrachoa. It looks for all the world to be the younger sister, if you will, to Supertunia Persimmon petunia. Petunias and calibrachoas are related, so to be a little more scientifically correct, they would not be sisters but cousins.
For the sake of this experiment, we were able to get a large bowl with great potting soil planted with Supertunia Persimmon petunia, August Lavender heliotrope, Supertunia Vista Snowdrift petunia, Whirlwind Blue scaevola and the star of this column, the Superbells Coral Sun calibrachoa.
The colors and patterns of Supertunia Persimmon and Superbells Coral Sun seemed almost identical and were breathtakingly beautiful. As you would expect, the Supertunia Persimmon was larger in stature and blooms. The Superbells Coral Sun however was no slouch in either attractiveness or the sheer number of blooms.
So, the point being is, either one will fit your desire for that dazzling show of color. As you probably already know, partnerships with blue seem to create those goosebump-type feelings and the desire to do something similar at your house. I've grown mine with Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo, and in another combination with Superbena verbenas.
At the Young's Plant Farm Annual Garden Tour in Auburn, Ala., they featured Superbells Coral Sun calibrachoa in a raised bed with Superbells Double calibrachoas that seemed to have light blue flowers. The Coral Sun shocked with an almost uncountable number of flowers.
This raised bed soil had the best organic amendments, which is what you will need too, or plant in containers with a high-grade potting soil. You do this, feed with a water-soluble fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks, and water as needed; you'll have garnered the green thumb award. Most of us in the South will also cut back by about a third sometime in August to set up for a great fall bloom.
If you are like everyone else and you want Supertunia Persimmon petunia, just remember that if you can't find it, try the award-winning Superbells Coral Sun calibrachoa. Your designs will be just as riveting.
Norman Winter is a horticulturist, garden speaker and author of "Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South" and "Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden."