Cape Primrose: How to Grow This Beautiful Flower in Your Home Garden

Streptocarpus may sound like a throat disease, but it's actually a stemless houseplant that can be relocated to the back yard for a spot of unexpected summer color. You may know Streptocarpus by its common name, Cape primrose, but what you may not know about it is - its value in the summer garden. I came upon the delight of using Cape primrose as an addition to the shady border one day early one summer when a friend gave me a few pots.

Since I had no place to put them, I stood the pots in the ground outside my shady front doorway. Much to my surprise, they liked the spot, bloomed their heads off, and I could almost hear them beg to stay put when fall came and houseplant summering days were over. If you asked me what Cape primrose looks like, I'd have to say it's a cross between an African violet and a hardy primrose. Cape primrose blooms are blue, deep purple, yellow, white, lilac, dark red, pink and who knows what else. All of them are worth collecting. Flower stalks bear two to six 1/2 to 2-inch long, tubular shaped flowers spring to fall. Leaves are up to 12 inches long and three inches wide, medium to dark green and strap-shaped. Cape primrose grows wild chiefly in South Africa and the name, strepto, means twisted, and carpus refers to the fruit-twisted fruit. Be careful to protect Cape primrose from direct sunlight, or ugly leaf sunburn will occur. This plant also prefers a humid, sultry summer. If the air is dry, don't get your heart set on this scene stealer. Cape primrose can take slightly dry soil, but not bone-dry air.

As usual, I suppose you want to know where to get it. Some greenhouses raise them, but you have to let your fingers do the walking. If you cant find them in any local greenhouses or nurseries, you can always order the seeds online or at your favorite garden supply store. Be careful when planting these beautiful flowers in your garden though, they will almost certainly be the most eye catching variety in your garden. Not that this is a problem, but the other flowers may start to get jealous!

Sources:

Bryant, Kate The Complete Encyclopedia of Garden Flowers: Choosing Plants, Handy Hints, Descriptions, Cultivation Requirements 2003

Hobhouse, Penelope Flower Gardens 2006