Pronounciation: Per-ee-Kal-is high-BRI-duh

Hardiness zones
Sunset All zones
USDA All zones

Landscape Use: Winter annual in Phoenix, mesic garden borders, floral accent, decorative patio containers, indoor pot or gift plant.

Form & Character: Upright, rounded, festive, loud and boisterous, tender, vulnerable.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, herbaceous perennial grown strictly as a winter annual in Phoenix, much branched to 6- to 12-inches tall with equal spread.

Foliage/Texture: Tender cordate-shaped, medium green, entire leaves with strong palmate veination and subtle, scalloped margins, 2-inches wide, sometimes pubescent to tomentose, petiole extended; medium fine texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Perfect ray and disc flowers that grow on an extended green peduncles arranged in corymbs, multiple single and bi-colors ranging from white, pink, red, blue to violet; fruits are dimorphic achenes.

Seasonal Color: Flowers profusely during mid and late winter into early spring, January to March.

Temperature: Temperatures parameterizes the seasonal use of cineraria in Phoenix in profound ways. On balance, it thrives in cooler weather with temperatures consistently below 80^oF and is a complete landscape wimp, fading quickly if temperatures exceed 90^oF.

Light: Shade to partial sun, no southwestern or western exposures.

Soil: Grows best in well-drained soils amended with composted organic matter. Intolerant of strongly alkaline soils.

Watering: Perfers regular "garden conditions", aka a rich, well-drained soil that is kept evenly moist. Thus, since cineraria is a winter annual in Phoenix, the amounts and frequency of supplemental waterings will be dictated by the frequency of winter rains.

Pruning: None

Propagation: Seed, requires sunlight to germinate.

Disease and Pests: Aphids, spider mites, fungal root rot.

Additional comments: Cineraria is one of those "eye candy" plants that shows up and shows off in full bloom every few early springs in the garden section of Home Depot or Lowes. A real garden 'seductress', cineraria will tempt garden enthusiasts like myself to make an impulse purchase to put in a large pot near the front door for about 3 or 4 weeks before it 'craps out' cause the April afternoon temperatures are warming past 90^oF. There are a myriad of named cultivated selections of this tender perennial based on flower color. The lifespan of cineraria as an indoor pot or gift plant is typically about 10 to 20 days.

Taxonomic tidbits: The genus name Pericallis is derived from the Greek “peri” (meaning around) and “kallos” (meaning beauty). The genus Pericallis contains about 15 recognized species. The scientific name Pericallis hybrida was first described by Eduard August, but was later revised and reclassified by Rune Bertil Nordenstam in 1978.