I’ve recently rediscovered this great plant. You may know them as Cape Primrose but I know them as Streptocarpus hybrids – the results of plant breeders crossing various species to develop a better plant. About 5 years ago I discovered this plant for the first time and loved it at first sight. The story of its demise is explained later on but when I came across it again more recently I simply had to buy one straightaway.
I grow it as an indoor plant and there are several reasons why I love it. Its dead easy to grow. Give it good bright light. Don’t put it in a hot room or expose it to direct hot sunlight. That’s it. If you do these things it will reward you with flowers. Yes the holy grail of indoor plants. And lots of them. Big and bright. No whimpy little African violet sized flowers either (although I am still partial to the odd African violet too despite Mike telling me they’re terrible Granny things – sorry to the Grandmas out there).
My current Steptocarpus (trust me persevere with the name and it’ll be rolling off your tongue before you know it) is a deep velvety purple. I bought it 2 months ago with two flower stems that were just finishing up. I repotted it and it is now back in flower with about 4-5 new stems on their way. It’ll keep flowering for months and months. Well that’s what my first one did until I moved it to a spot that was too hot and it cooked. In all fairness I didn’t have many places to put it at the time and I took a chance. I’ve learnt my lesson.
They come in various shades of white, pink, purple and a bluish colour (before you get excited its not a true blue). Newer varieties are appearing with even larger flowers too. If you see one grab it straight away and you’ll be rewarded for years to come.
PS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here.
You’ll find great gift ideas for garden lovers and fellow plant addicts!