Description
There are usually about six leaves, spreading flat on the ground below the flowers. Each has a rough, granular ivory-coloured margin from which the name radulosa derives. The leaf tips are red.
The 30 cm flower head is borne on a 40 cm stem. Each large ball contains 20-70 blooms. Individual blooms are 4-5 cm across. Their crystalline texture and stunning colour is lovely. In this new form it is a very rich, bright deep pink.
It does well in cultivation under frost-free, or warmer, glass though it needs attention to good drainage. Culture should be in large pots, or planted out under glass, in a very fertile loam soil with plenty of feeding. Water occasionally but never over-water. If in doubt leave them dry. A dry summer rest, when their leaves die away, is essential. Good air circulation in winter will help to prevent fungal diseases resulting from damp, static air. This is absolutely NOT hardy in the UK, even in the mildest areas.
Not currently in stock and we have no sources or likelihood of supply at the moment, sorry.
Photo Denis Tsang, with thanks (taken on Drakensberg, near the Lesotho border).
