Cineraria

Meet cineraria, the flower that looks as if it came with its own colour filter. Domed clusters of small daisies in blue, violet, magenta, pink and white sit on top of a mound of broad, soft leaves, and the colours are so saturated that a single pot can light up a shaded doorway. It is a florist's plant first and a garden plant second.

It was bred from two Canary Island species, and Wikipedia says it was first developed in the British royal gardens in 1777. The RHS describes a tender, clump-forming perennial often grown as an annual, and NC State says that florist plants are forced to bloom from Christmas to Easter. In other words it is a plant of cool, bright, not-too-hot winters, and Dubai only has one of those from about December to March.

The mood is cheerful and seasonal, a pot plant for a few bright months. Treat it as a bought-in bloom for a pot or a shaded bed, enjoy it for a few months and then let it go, rather than a plant to carry through summer.

Pericallis × hybrida is a hybrid of Pericallis cruenta and P. lanata, both from the Canary Islands, in the daisy family, Asteraceae. Wikipedia says it was first developed in the British royal gardens in 1777, was originally named Cineraria × hybrida, and is placed by some botanists in the broad genus Senecio; the genus Cineraria is now limited to South African species. Some varieties are sold as Senetti. The RHS gives a height and spread of 0.5 to 1 m, and NC State 30 to 45 cm tall and 30 to 60 cm wide, in a mounding habit.

The RHS says that in frost-free areas it should be grown in fertile, well-drained soil, in sun with midday shade or in part shade, and lists chalk, loam and sand as suitable soils, kept moist but well drained. Wikipedia says the plants should never be allowed to dry. Both RHS and NC State give flowering as winter to spring, and NC State notes that florist plants grown in ideal greenhouse conditions are difficult to grow and rebloom. That points to what a Dubai gardener should expect: a short, bright season from December to March, and replanting the next year.

Dubai shops sell cineraria mainly as seed: Plantshop.me lists 'Cineraria Mixed Color Flower Seeds' and Plantsworld the Fito 'Cineraria Dwarf Hybrid Mix'. The RHS says seed is sown at 13 to 18 °C, which Dubai's autumn does not offer outdoors, so most gardens will find it easier to buy plants in flower when they are on sale. We found no Dubai Municipality or UAE source on planting dates, so the windows below are our reading of the cool season. The main pests, according to NC State and the RHS, are aphids, thrips, spider mites, whitefly and leaf miner.