Calceolaria

CALCEOLARIA (kal-se-oh-lay-ri-ah) - A genus of chiefly greenhouse-flowering plants of the Figwort Family, bearing large numbers of mostly red and yellow spotted flowers, each with a large inflated pouch like a slipper-toe or purse.

Natives chiefly of South America, they have been so extensively hybridized that few original species are seen in cultivation. In England, the small shrubby types with mostly yellow or white unspotted flowers are frequently used as edging plants, and these should be equally suitable on the West Coast of North America. Otherwise, Calceolarias are distinctly florists’ plants, their exacting demands, especially when young, keeping them confined to commercial greenhouses or those on large estates.

They require a low temperature (not over 60 deg.) and a Northern exposure for the germination of seeds. March to July is the best time for sowing, and the recommended soil mixture is 2/5 sand, 2/5 loose peat and 1/5 charcoal, all sifted. After the small seeds are pressed into the surface, they should be covered with fine sphagnum and the seed-pan should be moistened by setting it in a tub of water. The seedlings need fresh air constantly, but will not stand sun until autumn, when they demand an abundance of it. When about to flower, they relish a dose of liquid food twice a week. When cuttings are used for propagation, they are rooted in sand in the early fall and thereafter treated the same as the seedlings.

Green-fly, as professional gardeners often call aphids, is the most persistent enemy of calceolaria.

Gray mold (Botrytis blight) of leaves and flowers is kept down by removing infected parts and keeping foliage dry. Stem rot is reduced by clean culture, making sure that the hard black sclerotia (resting bodies) do not fall from infected stems to the moist soil or cinders in the benches and there produce fruiting bodies and start general infection.

Related Articles

• Caesalpinia - CAESALPINIA (sez-al-pin’-i-ah). A genus of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs of the Pea Family. A few species are climbers and some are armed with prickles. They bear loose clusters of showy yellow, orange and red flowers, followed by conspicuous, usually flattened, seed pods. They are grown as ornamentals in frost-less regions or occasionally in greenhouses
• Hamamelis - HAMAMELIS (ham-ah-mee’-lis) Witch-hazel. Hardy deciduous shrubs or small trees, native to North America and Asia. They are of special interest because of their season of bloom, which is from late fall to early spring. The fragrant flowers with narrow wavy petals, are borne in clusters. Witch-hazels do well in sandy loam, and the native kinds can