Three Easy Flowers

Southern Living, Feb 2005 by Bender, Steve

Brighten things up with a few pots of color.

If your mood seems blacker than the inside of an oil drum, visit a garden center. You'll discover seasonal flowers that fill the gap between the poinsettias of Christmas and the lilies of Easter. Here are some you'll love.

Fairy Primrose

Bearing multiple whorls of blooms atop wiry stems up to 10 inches tall, fairy primrose (Primula malacoides), is an excellent choice. It offers frilly blossoms in pastel shades of pink, rose, lavender, and white that last for weeks in winter and early spring. Its leaves are rounded and toothed, a bit like those of a geranium.

Fairy primrose likes bright light and cool temperatures (below 70 degrees), so place it near a north- or east-facing window away from heating vents. Let the soil go slightly dry between waterings, and make sure the pot has a drainage hole.

Cape Primrose

Sometimes blooming for months at a time between periods of rest, cape primrose (Streptocarpus sp.) has long, thin stems that hold blue, purple, red, pink, or white flowers well above crinkled, deep green foliage.

While the plant is actively growing, give it bright light and moist, well-drained soil. Feed a blooming plant with a water-soluble, blossombooster fertilizer, such as 15-40-15, every other watering. After several months, it will enter a resting phase and cease blooming. Stop fertilizing, and let the soil go slightly dry between waterings. If the plant loses all its foliage, stop watering completely. Begin watering again when you see new leaves sprout at the base.

Florists' Cyclamen

The pink, red, lavender, or white flowers of florists' cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) remind me of fireworks arching through the sky. This plant requires cool temperatures (40 to 65 degrees) and excellent drainage. If overwatered, the leaves will collapse like a blimp speared by a light pole. While it's actively growing, give it bright, indirect light, and feed with a water-soluble, blossom-booster fertilizer at every other watering. Let the soil go slightly dry between waterings, and don't wet the foliage.

With the onset of warm weather, cyclamen enters a resting stage that lasts until fall. Stop fertilizing, and gradually reduce watering until the foliage dies down. Store the tuber and pot in a cool, dry place until late summer. Then repot it using fresh soil; make sure the top third of the tuber protrudes above the soil. Water once, and set the pot in a bright window. When leaves sprout, resume regular watering and feeding. STEVE BENDER