Celebrate spring with early diascias
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| Diascia'White Belle' produces early flowers
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'The Little Series of Diascia has been specifically bred for early-season flowering and compact growth, making it ideal for hanging baskets and containers.'
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| Diascia 'Little Tango'
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Diascia tolerate cool, damp spring weather and the Little Series has been specifically bred by Jimmy Jones in Wales for early-season flowering and compact growth. These characteristics make them ideal for hanging baskets and containers.
New Diascia varieties for 2007 are vibrant-orange 'Little Tango' (right), and 'Little Maiden', a pink and white bicolour.
Another new Diascia for 2007 is White Belle (above), which has larger and earlier flowers than 'Ice Cream', the best-known white diascia.
Look in garden centres for plants in 9cm (3½in) and 10cm (4in) pots, which should cost about £2.
Dobies and Suttons offer 10 pot-ready plants by mail order for £10.95.
Plant specifications
Although short in stature at only 15-30cm (6-12in) tall, and small in leaf, diascias are strong on flowers. These little plants put up several stems that tend to turn upwards and will produce a seemingly continuous supply of flowers, extending up to the unopened buds at the stem tip. Each flower is an open trumpet shape with a bigger lower lip and yellow central parts. The choice of colours varies from salmon pinks, through cerise to pale purple so they can blend with a variety of colour schemes.
denotes Subscriber-only content | Thursday 20 November 2008 | Help | Glossary 
