Q: I have a front yard flower bed. Can I successfully plant petunias by broadcasting the seed there? When is the best time to do it?

A: Petunias can certainly be grown from seed but it’s usually done indoors or in a greenhouse. If petunia seed are planted in the spring, when the ground is finally warm, it takes several weeks to get flowers, possibly mid-June. By contrast, you can buy flowering petunia plants at a nursery in late April. For a front yard bed, I’d buy the plants.