hey.. so many questions.. so little time .. lol ...

that is one that is commonly available in spring..

how it got there.. vermin .. wind.. prior owner pulling the old plants out last fall and throwing them in a wheelbarrow.. birds ..... who knows ...

gravel?? .. sidewalk cracks with no soil ... driveway ... etc.. they obviously dont care ...

you could let it develop seed pods.. and harvest them when ripe.. and sow them next year.. but genetics will tell.. whether they end up looking exactly like those next time ...

you have a nice wide walkway.. with no bed to grow things in ... you either remove the small course of blocks next to the wall.. leaving a VERY SMALL bed to grow things in.. which will be nearly useless ....

or i think i would lean more towards some nice pots.. along that area ... but on that pic.. that is about all i can think right now.. but i dont think that should be answered in this post about petunia in the annual forum.. i think you will get more ideas.. in other forums ...

depending how proficient you get with pots.. and its not easy.. you can go with perennials.. annuals.. trees.. conifers.. etc.. each having its own challenges..

but i would start with annuals.. so if you kill them all the first time.. while growing your learning curve.. it would be much less painful .. than a dozen $100 conifers..

did i cover all the questions?????

ken

ps: try a post in the perennial forum.. about pots in an entryway.. and ask for pics.. i bet it might blow your mind ... i wonder if there is a pot forum???? its probably going to be all about how interested you are.. in maintaining and learning about pots ... its easy to plant them.. but keeping them prime can be an issue ...

Here is a link that might be useful: front door potted plants

Those are pretty! Petunias are tender perennials, btw. I'd guess that the previous owners had a planter of Petunias there and they dropped seeds. Or birds could have "dropped" seeds from elsewhere while perched on the edge of the roof. Looks like a micro-climate where they might come back next year.

Any plants except "full shade" should do well out there in general. After you've been there a while, you'll probably notice some spots of your entry way get a little more sun, some a little less. That's a wonderful place to put pots, which you can move around and "tweak" your display as the seasons progress.

I cannot answer any questions, but I have that exact petunia (from Lowes). It wasn't labelled as anything special, other than it may have been a "wave." I agree...this is the the best-growing and nicest out of all of mine (and I have many). My twin to yours is almost a mini-bush.

Petunias are tough and not tender. Several times over the years I've had early plantings hit by light frost and the petunias never missed a beat. They tend to pop up in cracks of my driveway too. I agree that planters are the way to go and with half day's sun, and a light(ish) siding giving plenty of ambient light, you likely could plant anything in that spot...petunias, perhaps?

tj

hah hah.
I was also thinking pots with, wait for it.... petunias too. I suspect they would do well there.

Pretty much the same as what others have already said about previous owners and saving seeds from these plants for next year....

When purpleinopp said they were tender perennials I think she meant they were perennials, but not grown as such since they don't survive heavy freezes.... not that they weren't tough.

As my parent's concrete driveway cracked and crumbled, my mom was pleased to find that petunias would self sow every year into the cracks. Towards the end there were petunias all over and it was frowned upon to park on the side of the driveway where they grew thickest. They got a new driveway a couple years ago and it looks much neater, but also less cheerful.
Frank

Kato, thanks for clarifying. Petunias are perennials here. The term tender perennial is used to refer to perennial plants grown as annuals in colder areas. That driveway sounds like it was really pretty!

Thanks kato and purp. I missed the "perennial" part of petunias.

As for the driveway, there is a container up against the house next to the stoop, the rest are crack dwellers.

{{gwi:22498}}

tj

Wow those are nice, yeah I want to get rid of those pavers eventually

Well, come to think of it, you could always be bold and actually seed the cracks where you want plants and see what happens. ;-)

tj

Tsuga, incredible display! Awesome!

they make a dense mat.. which when trod upon.. can be slippery as heck ... i dont think they would be approved covering a walkway ...

dont the real estate pix show what was there at time of sale???

ken

No, the pictures do not show. The facade of the house is very big so it is way zoomed out and no close up pictures. I will post an entry pic on perennials about planters