If you have tried Cape Primroses, also called Streptocarpus, then you may also want to try the cousin Chirita. They have hairy leaves similar to African violets and flowers that are similar Streptocarpus. In fact they all belong to the little know Gesneriad family
- Chiritas can be acquired from the specialist www.dibleys.com They also produce an excellent compact A5 plant catalogue
- Propagation is easy from leaf cuttings in an equal mixture of compost and vermiculite, pearlite or sharp sand.
- Keep plants out of direct sunlight, a north facing windowsill or porch is ideal
- Plants can stay in the same pot for several years if they are give a regular week feed.
- Keep plants a bit on the dry side and treat like African violets
- Chirita Akiro as shown above has marbled leaves
- For small neat pure white Chirita taminiana is recommended by Anne Swithenbank
- For larger flowers try C. Keiko shown below with upto 25 two inch flowers from
http://www.gesneriads.ca/default.htm
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