Tender plants

I don't propagate a lot of indoor plants but this year I seem to have raised quite a few almost by accident...

Begonia soli-mutata

A gorgeous Brazilian species grown mainly for its deeply textured richly coloured foliage (it also has pretty white flowers) Not difficult as a house plant as long as not dry. Regular misting helps.
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Drymonia chiribogana

A bushy gesneriad from Latin America with dark lustrous leaves and silver veins. The flowers are pale lilac. A plant for a terrarium or tropical greenhouse. It survives as a houseplant but really needs good humidity. Not at all difficult given the right conditions.
£8

Crassula streyi

A tender South African species with 2in wide broad glossy leaves – dark green above, slightly marbled in silver, and intense wine red under.

Like many plants with red leaf reverses, this is an adaptation to growing in shade, which makes this an excellent choice for a sunless windowsill and irregular watering – the ideal houseplant in many ways. The flowers are small and off white and produced in branching sprays in spring.
£6

Cobaea pringlei

A hardy herbaceous perennial relative of the familiar cup-and-saucer vine, C.scandens. Having white flowers, it's not as spectacular as its tender purple-flowered relative but still a lovely thing. I grow it in a sunny spot on a well-drained but rich soil, with a thick strawy mulch in winter just to be on the safe side. It dies down completely in winter.

Once it gets going it's a big plant capable of covering quite a large area in a single season so make sure you put it somewhere where it can roam free. It tends to start late and flower late too so provide warmth and shelter.

Despite the bindweed-like roots it does not spread vigorously and can be slow to propagate. As a result I never have enough of these to satisfy demand so please enquire.
£12