Flowers that change color in the garden aren’t a new idea. Just ask hydrangea lovers. But petunias that change color in 24 hours are new. It’s not science fiction, a Colorado-based science duo have already produced a petunia that blooms red when watered with a special solution, and then goes back to blooming white when watered with normal water.
The team set up a crowd-funding campaign to financially back further development of the petunias to meet United States Department of Agriculture standards. Once the petunias pass the USDA’s approval checklist, they can be released into the market where gardeners will be able to purchase them at their local garden center. The first petunias could hit the market in 2017.
Check out the team’s IndieGogo campaign page to get more information. If you’re a nerdy gardener like me, you may even want to float them a few campaign bucks to make it happen.
The same team, Revolution Bioengineering, is also working on developing a petunia that changes from pink to blue and back to pink. It will cycle from one color to the other every twelve hours, based upon the plant’s natural circadian rhythm; no chemicals, just sunlight and soil. They’re calling this one the “Petunia Circadia”. Now, that’s nerdy-cool.
