The radiance of cineraria reaches out from florist windows everywhere at Easter Time (and from our cover this month). But if you know cineraria only as an Easter plant of short duration in your window, you have missed its finest possibilities.
This year, try growing your own from seeds. They are among the easiest to germinate—take only ten days at a temperature of 50° degrees Fahrenheit.
A small packet will give you dozens of plants, and if you have been struck by the brilliance of one sparkling-eyed plant with over a hundred daisy blossoms, just imagine the impact of this fair charmer crowding your spring window boxes, brightening your foundation planting, glowing under your picture window, and turning your terrace into a tropical flower show.
Cineraria Color Ranges
Colors range from the softest powder blue to jungle purple, from the most feminine pink to masculine maroon, and white alone or in combination with other colors. In addition, there are dwarf forms, small- and large-flowered kinds, and giants.
Seed catalogs give full descriptions of this half-hardy perennial’s different varieties, and strains, so carefully read before you choose.
Don’t Sow Your Seeds At Once
Don’t sow all your seeds at once—the seedlings will likely get out of hand. Instead, sow a few every week or two, starting this month and continuing until August.
You will have a continuous flow of bloom indoors from December on and outdoors from late spring until hot weather arrives.
Transplanting Cineraria
With cinerarias, even more than other seedlings, prompt transplanting and rapid growth are important. Once they slow up in hot, crowded quarters or undersize pots, their growth hardens, and they become stunted.
No amount of subsequent coddling will free them from this taint—you may as well throw them all out and start over again.
As soon as seedlings have their second or “true” leaves, thin them out and transplant the strongest to other pots or flats of light soil. Use about one-quarter sand (in bulk) to three-quarters loam.
When leaves begin to touch, move seedlings to individual 3-inch pots. Before they can become rootbound, move them to 4-inch pots, and keep them right on up to 7- or 8-inch pots.
Plants will appreciate liquid fertilizer once a week and moist soil.
Cineraria Temperature Preferences
Greenhouse growers know cinerarias prefer cool temperatures, so they keep their ranges down to 45° to 50° degrees Fahrenheit at night.
Indoors, you will find plants do well in a cool room close to a window but not touching the pane.
White flies and mealybugs will likely appear if the temperature is too high. Combat them with malathion, place plants in a cooler temperature, and keep after the bugs every week to catch the newly hatched.
For Early Spring Use Outdoor
For early spring use outdoors, move plants out gradually via an unheated enclosed porch and a cold frame so they become accustomed to the more rigorous air.
You can then bury pots to the rims in window boxes of moist sphagnum, vermiculite, or peat moss; sink pots in the ground; or set them in decorative containers on the terrace well protected from drying spring winds.
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