(ARA) - Ten years after they first hit the market, Wave petunias are still making a splash in the garden.

Millions of these super performers are planted by gardeners and professionals alike because Wave petunias are blooming machines. Extremely low-maintenance, these spreading petunias flower lavishly well into fall, withstanding heat and cold, rain and humidity.

Unlike old-fashioned petunias, there's no need to pinch back or deadhead Wave. They take care of themselves. Just give them a good feeding of an all-purpose plant food every few weeks, water and watch them grow.

The Wave Petunia family comes in four different series and two dozen colors. Make sure you look for the authentic Wave petunia in the Pink Pots or one of its sisters: Tidal Wave, Easy Wave or Double Wave.

To celebrate a decade of color in the landscape, Wave growers asked experts from around the country to give suggestions on new ways to use Wave petunias to create a dramatic garden that has your signature style without a lot of work.

Here are our top ten favorite ways to use Wave petunias to make a statement that shows your style without a lot of effort:

1. Garden Chandeliers. Create an elegant focal point with a basket of Easy Wave in a single color placed on a traditional pedestal -- as with Easy Wave White shown here. Easy Wave mounds up and out to form the perfect chandelier of petals. Place the pedestal within the landscape along a path, or put two at any entranceway to create a defined, sophisticated space.

2. Stair "Wave" to Heaven. Pick a color, any color. Use any of the Wave varieties to line a path to create a "heavenly" corridor. Wave's exceptionally large blooms fill in quickly, making a stunning statement. You can go with one bold color or graduate the colors from top to bottom. And to get a professional look, space the young plants closer together so they can weave around each other to create a thick mass of color.

3. Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Flowers. Create a massive globe of color by punching holes in the sides of the cocoa basket and fill in with young plants of Easy Wave petunias until the ball is covered with flowers spaced about 4 to 6 inches apart. The petunias will spread and mound from the center to produce a full, lush ball of color in hot pink to pastel purple.

4. Power Pots. Power in numbers is certainly true when it comes to plants. A concentration of one plant in one color gives you more bloom for the bang! A container of Tidal Wave Cherry is literally cascading with color and cheerfulness. Tidal Wave holds up under rain without falling open and exposing bare centers like some petunias can. Give the container a center support and these petunias will climb up to 3 feet just like a vine.

5. Curb Appeal. Want to create a lot of "curb appeal" for your landscape without an entire re-design or budget breaker? Count on Wave petunias to come to your rescue! Plant a mass of these original spreading petunias in a free-form design or arrange the plants in stripes, borders or clusters. This low-maintenance, fast-growing crowd pleaser will make a colorful statement.

6. Make an Entrance. Fill a container with any of the great colors of Easy Wave petunias and make a warm, colorful welcome. Mix and match Pink, Salmon and Shell Pink for a burst of inviting, bold color. Mix with Double Wave with its rose-like flowers to add interest and create high impact.

7. Spots of Pots. Create instant interest and continual color in the garden or perennial border with pots of Wave petunias. Masses of a single color -- a black container filled with Tidal Wave Silver -- create a stylish look that adds punch and accents any spot in your yard, particularly when perennials are not in bloom.

8. Red Hot! It's new and it's hot. Easy Wave Red is the first "true red" Wave petunia. Flowers open dark red and mature to a soft red. Combine with Easy Wave White and Easy Wave Blue for a patriotic look. It's perfect for large landscape plantings, garden beds, hanging baskets or large containers. Full, fast-flowering plants bloom continuously all season without the need to be cut back; they thrive even through extreme summer heat and wet conditions.

9. Don't Fence Me In. Unless it's with flowers! Tidal Wave petunias almost grow right before your eyes, creating a flowery hedge with a bevy of blooms in Cherry, Hot Pink, Purple or Silver. Put Tidal Wave in a restricted space with additional support such as a chain link fence or bush, and these eye-catching petunias will grow an extra 2 to 3 feet upward like a vine! A must plant for your garden.

10. Go with the Flow. Mix up a kaleidoscope of colors and plant them in a sea of Wave petunias for a dazzling effect. Create a small "stream" of flowers or an entire river across the whole yard. Just imagine the flowers as free-flowing color rising up gracefully throughout your yard.

All Wave petunias prefer sunny spots -- at least 6 hours of direct sunlight is best, but don't let them dry out. Waves are hungry plants so keep them well-fed with an all-purpose fertilizer every couple of weeks, especially when grown in containers.

To find your favorite Wave at a garden center near you, visit www.Wave-Rave.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content