Why? Because I want the streptocarpus to be weather hardy. Just like the upright fuchsias I had hoped to be growing in there instead, I want my plants to be strong enough to endure outdoor conditions.
Most flowering plants you see in the garden centers this time of year have been grown in heated greenhouses and then thrown out into the cold of the garden centers they are shipped to. Most nurseries are not concerned if those plants survive or not because they figure you'll just come back for more sooner.
That is one reason why they have begun to market fuchsias as "annuals" when in fact, they can live for over 100 years. If you toss them out every year, they make more money that way.
But I digress...
It does get down into the high 30's here and can also freeze at times. So it is still possible I might see damage. But so far so good! I even spotted one that had put out a flower spike yesterday when I was filling orders for the west coast states. So I brought it in and planted it up with a few others.
And I bought insulated protective sleeves for shipping the plants. So far, everyone has been very pleased with the plants on arrival. Maybe, just maybe, Streptocarpus just might be the means by which I can afford to finally salvage my struggling upright fuchsia collection.
A girl can hope. It's been over 8 years now since I made the mistake of moving the nursery here and had all of the stock freeze to ground level and then had the deer mow them down when they tried to come back up. Then it took a few years to afford to be able to build a deer proof enclosure and move the survivors into it. Meanwhile, with no income from the nursery, it was necessary to work many jobs and put a lot of time into the lavender instead.
I can't wait to see all the colors and forms these Streptocarpus will be!
They look great growing under big upright fuchsias!
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I am still a bit in shock. A rat got into the house and not only ate the flowers off of these guys, it also ate most of the leaves!! So I will be posting new photos as soon as some of the hundreds of others begin to put out blooms now that the weather is warming up.
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