Day Four: 3 December 2022: White Magic
Although far from perfect and past their best, I discovered this small group of Osteospermum flowers hiding under a mass of Eucomis leaves. They were produced by a plant that had survived the very wet winter of 2021. I have included them in my selection for Cathy’s Week of Flowers beause I admired their shining intensity in a dark part of the garden and the ability of an African daisy to survive a wet Hebridean winter.
The genus name Osteospermum comes from the Greek osteo meaning “bone” and sperma meaning “seed” in reference to the hard seeds.
The fact that they survived makes them even more precious. An apt title. 😃
It’s the wind and the wet which kills my plants, not the cold. It should stop raining tomorrow, but then we might have snow!
Gosh, that’s amazing to have survived! I used a lot of osteospermum in pots this year, and have potted some up and brought them inside to take cuttings from in the spring – I still have mixed feelings about them as some got quite leggy, although that could perhaps be resolved by pinching out
I can’t make my mind up about Osteospermums, I also experienced the leggy plant problem. On balance I think I prefer Gazanias, but I’ve not been very successful about over-wintering them in pots in the greenhouse. The perennial problem of wet winters!
Yes, I really ummed and erred about potting some up, but decided I had got nothing to lose as I could still compost them all next year anyway! And after a good start they had a long lull in flowering, but I suppose that could have been the heat – but don’t they like the heat? Hadn’t thought of gazanias – perhaps a different colour range though?
I think I’ll stick with the Gazanias. I like the hot colour range, but there is a white version which I’ve yet to find in the seed catalogues. However, it is always fun to try a mixed packet and see what grows.