Pericallis hybrids

[ideasguy]

Had to bus it home from work on Friday,and I spotted this gorgeous plant (from across the street) for sale outside a shop in Hillsborough Co Down (its the lovely little village where royalty stop over and politicians meet when they visit N Ireland - in Hillsborough Castle)

I took a little detour today to have a better look, and it turned out ot be the best plant I have seen for some time.
Its sold as SENETTI Deep Blue
Thats its registered Trade designation name. Its one of the Suntory collection.

The flowers were absolutely luminous. The foliage is also very attractive. Its upright and bushy (about 15ins at present)
Irresistible.
I bought one, at £2.50

On the label its got a web site address:
http://www.senetti.info
Info? VERY disappointing!
They have a "forum" on the site, but from wading through the fist 7 pages or so, theres loads of questions in every language, but no helpful answers.

On the label its got:
Pericallis hybrids

The care notes on the label say:
Heavy feeders and drinkers (mmm!)
For continuous flowering cut back the foliage after flowering and reflowering will occur in 3-4 weeks.

Anybody seen this plant?

My RHS A-Z book says:
Pericallis x hybrids is syn Cineraria x hybridus, Senecio cruentus, Senecio x hybridus (Florists cineraria)
Then the killer line:
Discard plants when flowering has ceased.
Bah!

Anyone grown this plant before?

Now the photos. OK, the label says its deep blue, and it deep blue in my photo, but it is nothing like the real life colour. Its purple!!
But, an absolutely vivid purple.

[ideasguy]

Its now on a second flush.
I read that when the first flowers fade, shear them off and they might flower again.
I did, and they did!

I tried cuttings from it, but they didnt work. I sowed their seeds. I did notice tiny seedlings. We shall see.

I planted it out yesterday. Heres  a pic

[The Gardener]

When I worked in a florist shop many years ago, these florists' Cinerarias were very popular, and we used to sell loads of them.  I think the label says discard after flowering mainly because they aren't hardy, so not many people would want to make the effort to keep them over winter. I didn't know they'd changed the name though.  I wouldn't have recognised the name Pericallis.

[ideasguy]

Its my first encounter with them Chrissie, so didnt know they were called Cinerarias in another world.

Theres a few different cultivars on the web site (link above).
Have you ever seen them on offer at any garden centres? I'd love to buy at least one of each variety to see how they look. The one I have is the most gorgeous shade of blue.

With all these "Catalogs on CD" I'm working on, perhaps I'll find a supplier.

[The Gardener]

They seem to have gone out of fashion a bit now George, but I'm sure I've seen them for sale in garden centres.  I think they are seasonal, and if I remember correctly, they were very popular as a gift for Mother's Day, so it would be around March when they are usually on offer in garden centres.

[ideasguy]

Since I'm late getting out to the garden this year, I'm having to dig up a lot of couch grass.
Ive decided to plant areas ike that with annuals and tender perennials (which wont last the winter) as I'd like to give it another digging over either in Autumn or early spring. That plant was ideal. Mind you, I'd like to get it overwintered.
As I said above, I collected and sowed some seed from the first flush. I checked this evening, and there are a few tiny seedlings in the tray. I wouldnt expect them to come true from seed, but it will be interesting to see if they are anything like the parent.