{"id":3239,"date":"2020-11-23T07:15:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T15:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3239"},"modified":"2020-11-23T07:15:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T15:15:54","slug":"cape-primrose-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/cape-primrose-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Primrose"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Streptocarpus<\/a>
Streptocarpus ‘Katie’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cStreptocarpus\u201d is an awful plant name, suggestive of sore throats and other maladies that can only be cured by antibiotics.\u00a0 In reality, if a plant lover is infected with a yen for streptocarpus, the malady may prove to be long-lasting and pleasant.<\/p>\n

Streptocarpus is commonly known as \u201cCape primrose\u201d, a much better name that invokes images of faraway places and dainty spring flowers.\u00a0 The sight of those flowers will not inflame the tonsils, but might help cure the cankered soul, especially during the dark winter months.<\/p>\n

I have had intermittent streptocarpus lust for years, inflamed from time to time by catalog pictures and houseplant reference sources.\u00a0 The plants are beautiful, growing 12 to 18 inches tall and wide, with basal rosettes of soft, round to elongated foliage that tends to be wrinkled in appearance.\u00a0 The flowers are borne above those leaves on relatively short stems.\u00a0 Each one is composed of an elongated tube that flares out into five petals, which are sometimes frilled on the edges.\u00a0 Many of the fancier streptocarpus feature petal arrays that are almost iris-like with two upper petals and three lower petals. \u00a0The blooms may be tinted white, yellow, pink, red, blue-purple, purple or bi-colored.\u00a0 Sometimes the petals are also marked with contrasting throats, dots or \u201cwhiskers\u201d reminiscent of pansies or even orchids.\u00a0 A mature plant will bear many flowers at a time and bloom repeatedly over the course of a year.<\/p>\n

The \u201cCape\u201d in the common name refers to South Africa, home to the ancestors of today\u2019s hybrid Cape primroses.\u00a0 The \u201cprimrose\u201d part has little to do with the common primroses that most of us grow in our spring gardens.\u00a0 It was probably just a reference to the delicate appearance of the flowers, and\/or the lettuce-like leaf configuration, which resembles the basal rosettes of primrose family members.<\/p>\n

The streptocarpus genus is part of the large Gesneriaceae or African violet family and the plants have many of the recognizable African violet traits\u2014including the range of flower colors, care requirements and light preferences.\u00a0 Some people find Cape primroses easier to grow, but I think both require similar amounts of care and attention and offer the same levels of gratification.<\/p>\n

It takes many species to make a modern outdoor or indoor ornamental plant.\u00a0 The showy Cape primroses that are starting to appear in nurseries and garden centers now were bred from species like Streptocarpus primulifolius, introduced from South Africa to Europe in 1826, and Streptocarpus dunnii, which made it to Europe in 1886.\u00a0 The latter was a red-flowered species that got breeders at England\u2019s Kew gardens excited and most likely helped them widen the available range of flower colors.\u00a0 In the twentieth century, two English horticultural firms, Veitch and John Innes, made wide inroads in breeding, including irradiation of plants to produce even more colors.\u00a0 Breeders also developed compact varieties that can be grown in three or four-inch pots.<\/p>\n

Online nurseries offer a vast array of streptocarpus.\u00a0 I especially love the flamboyant \u2018Harlequin Lace\u2019, with pale blue and white upper petals and lower petals adorned with a lacey combination of darkest purple and white.\u00a0 If you prefer something a little simpler, you might try \u2018Heartland\u2019s Snow Crystal\u201d, which boasts large, pure white flowers.<\/p>\n

When you receive your primrose in the mail from a specialty vendor or bring it home from a nursery, inspect for pests or signs of disease.\u00a0 Providing there are none, place in the bright, indirect light provided by a north, east or west-facing window.\u00a0 Refrain from killing your Cape primrose with the kindness of giving it too much water.\u00a0 Water only when the top of the soil looks and feels dry, and avoid splashing leaves, as it causes unattractive spotting.\u00a0 I use slow-release plant food stakes, which eliminates the need to remember regular feeding, but you can also use liquid or granular products according to package directions.<\/p>\n

Beyond those minimal maintenance functions, all you really have to do is deadhead the spent flowers and remove any dying leaves from the plant.\u00a0 \u00a0Plants will sometimes go dormant after they flower.\u00a0 If this is the case, don\u2019t despair, just water minimally and stop feeding.\u00a0 In a month or two, the plant will revive and start its growth cycle again.<\/p>\n

Like the evil streptococcus bacteria, streptocarpus plants can be quite contagious.<\/p>\n

If you are itching to catch the streptocarpus bug, visit any large nursery or garden center.\u00a0 If their supplies are lacking, go to Logee\u2019s Greenhouses, 141 North Street, Danielson, CT 06239, (888) 330-8038, www.logees.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Another wonderful supplier is Violet Barn, PO Box 9, Naples, NY 14512; (585) 374-8592; www.violetbarn.com. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cStreptocarpus\u201d is an awful plant name, suggestive of sore throats and other maladies that can only be cured by antibiotics.\u00a0 In reality, if a plant lover is infected with a yen for streptocarpus, the malady may prove to be long-lasting and pleasant. Streptocarpus is commonly known as \u201cCape primrose\u201d, a much better name that invokes … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[666,665,2408,667,492,664],"class_list":["post-3239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-african-violet-family","tag-cape-primrose","tag-gesneriadacea","tag-gesneriads","tag-houseplants","tag-streptocarpus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3241,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239\/revisions\/3241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}