#streptocarpus

Plant of the Day

Sunday 17 August 2025

A native to South Africa, Streptocarpus (Cape primrose) are a tender perennial that make an excellent houseplant. A range of cultivars are grown for their showy flowers, which come in a wide range of colours. They tend to flower more prolifically when the plants are slightly pot-bound.

Streptocarpus in two kinds of light

The haul from a productive little journey to Blomsterlandet ("Flower Country") after work this evening. Plus some miscellaneous junk visible out in the balcony room, which is past due some spring garden cleanup!

My primary mission today was to pick up some tomato plants. It hopefully shouldn't be too early, since they are going in the glassed-in balcony area. No seeds started this year, and we do have the car now so it's much easier to haul all kinds of stuff around.

I grabbed two tomato plants, and this mystery vaguely banana pepper-looking variety to go into the three existing buckets.

I know the 'Totem' is supposed to be good in containers and heavy bearing for a smallish plant. Then I decided to stay sane for our current growing situation, and opted for this other bush tomato variety that I'd never heard of before.

But! Turns out that 'Vilma' has some other plans in mind.

That's it, that's how big the plants get. I like the cute little micro dwarves, and these are supposed to have a good flavor. But, somehow I think that the bucket will need to find another new occupant.

For now, at least, I think 'Vilma' will probably be better off moving up into one of these.

Besides the edibles, I also couldn't resist picking up these when I saw them.

A few unnamed African violets, and the lone Cape Primrose that I saw in the store. (Though, come to find out, these are apparently all classified as Streptocarpus now.) Not as wild about the pinks, but I'll take what I can get. All the Saintpaulias and Streptocarpus that I had (including the few luggage-smuggled from the UK) ended up dying for one reason or another, and I'm glad to get some more cheerful little blooming buddies in here.