Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cineraria Life Cycle

Want something cheerful and colourful at one of the unused part shade corner?
Cineraria blooming season in our garden is much longer grown in part shade.
It does not mind of receiving only an hour or so direct-sunlight.
Not much of a problem growing cineraria on our hard clay soil.
Does not really mind of growing on less fertile soil.
Did grow well on soil that is not fertile.
Easy to grow and self-sowed easily.
But pest love this plant.
Snails and slugs like to munch on our cineraria plants leaves.
Here in Adelaide plain, I usually sow cineraria seeds in autumn and transplanted the seedlings when they have more than 3 or 4 true leaves.
Newly sprouted seeds.
Cineraria starts to bloom in late winter here in our garden. If the weather warms quickly, it can bloom much earlier than that. Depending on the year (heat level), it can continue to bloom until early summer.
Two years in a row we tried several combination of cineraria growing together with different vegetables. My favourite combination so far is growing cineraria together with Nero Black Kale.
Cineraria spent blooms.
To prolong blooming season, spent flowers have to be deadheaded.
Where is the location of the cineraria seeds?
Can you see two red insects in the photo? (P.S. pest name?)
That is the seeds location.
Cineraria seeds.
Have a lovely weekend!
This was a drafted post from last November.

18 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

They are sure pretty flowers. Trying to catch up a little. Still behind with all the work here but wanted to drop by.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Dani P. said...

The border looks beautiful. Great ideea to grow flowers and vegetables in the same place.

Sue Garrett said...

Never thought of growing cineraria outside we have grown them as house or greenhouse plants and I love the colours.

Sorry can't help with the red insects as they are so tiny.

Mark Willis said...

Sounds like a very tolerant plant, which will grow in practically any site. Can't help with the pest identification I'm afraid,

tina said...

I've seen these in stores before but never knew exactly what they were. They are very pretty!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

They are so bold for part shade.
Very pretty.

Kate said...

How beautiful your Cineraria are against the brick wall. I've never seen them growing in a garden. In Southern California, where I'm from, they're forced in greenhouses as a Winter gift plant. Also, landscapers along the coast plant huge beds of them in shady spots in front of big hotels and shopping centers in the Winter months. I like them better your way, as a pretty bit of color among your garden plants.

rainfield61 said...

You are a very experienced gardener.

lena said...

the insects must be really small, i cant see them!..but still you're growing them beautifully!

kumittyi said...

A bright blue of cineraria is really beautiful.I was very surprised to see that they are growing outside as border plant.
I thought that I grow them in house.Cineria means flower blooming in only early spring , difficult to cultivate to me.

Kelli said...

Great colour and an interesting post!

Wendy said...

what a beautiful plant and so lush in your garden!

kitchen flavours said...

Lovely flowers! I could have a lovely bouquet of various beautiful blooms picked right from your garden! Envy..envy.. :)

shaz said...

Beautiful flowers! Such gorgeous colours, I love the blue in nature.

Sue Catmint said...

I had these for a while but then they disappeared. They have such wonderfully coloured flowers. good luck with the seeds.

Malar said...

Very pretty flowers!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Cher~Thank you for dropping by. Hope you get some rest later from all the work.

Dani~I found the garden does much better with neglect when I mix veggies with flowers.

Sue~Too tiny to identify from the photo. I did not realised those insects were there when I took the photo. I just realised it was there when I upload the picture for this post.

Mark~Probably we have milder winter that it is easier to grow cineraria here during the cool season. But it does need to belong in the shade during summer to survive.

Tina~I saw their seedlings in the nursery for the first time and looking at the label photo decided to try grow them on impulse. We did not know the plants too before we bought them.Now cineraria became a permanent residence in our garden as it self-sowed easily here.

Gardener on the Sherlock Street~Very bold. I like to look at them from the window during cloudy and cold days.

Kate~I never knew that it is an indoor plants. Its really a good plant to brighten up shady places.

Rainfield61~Not really. Our summer garden was a big disaster this year ;-).

Lena~There really small. I did not detect them when I was taking the photo.

Kumittyi~We have mild winter compared to other region which might be the reason for us to be able to grow them outside.

Kelli~I like the pale blue ones. It is a bit rare in our garden since pink or purple cineraria usually dominate.

Wendy~I hope they will make a comeback again.

Joyce~Right now,we don't really have that many flowers blooming. Thinking of sowing some zinnia and sunflower seeds this month if I manage to find some time.

Shaz~I love the blue ones too.

Catmint~The seeds really fragile and easily blown by the wind. Kept a little seeds just in case it if no volunteers popping out.

Malar~Easy to maintain.

Sue Garrett said...

That happens to me a lot too Diana - it's amazing how many tiny insects are only noticed when I view a photo!