Description
A variable species with a range from Greece, Crete, Rhodes, N. Cyprus and S. Turkey. At home in sunny, rocky places and pine woodland, from sea level to 1,200m.
The leaves can be deep green, from almost black to silver-grey, pewter, mid-green to lime or dusty sage, with contrasting blotches and veins of the same colour range and additionally maroon undersides and reddish teeth. You also get splendid pink flowers in the autumn and sporadically through the winter.
In cultivation it is tender in N. Europe but with us it stands frost (though not deep or prolonged freezing) if the tuber is deeply planted. It does well under frost-free glass. It has thick contractile roots and likes a deep pot with the top of the tuber exposed at the surface. This can be top-dressed with gravel or decayed pine needles. Flowering is best if the tuber is kept hot and dry over summer with the roots receiving some moisture from the base.
for UK sales ONLY NOT available for export
