Wednesday

Blushing Bride Flower!

I am ready to grow my first Serruria from seed. Fresh seeds arrived and off  I go mixing soil according to instructions. This time it's required to sterilize the soil. How can you sterilize soil - There is the microwave method or you can pour boiling water over it several times.

This gorgeous South African member of the Proteaceae family reputedly derived its common name of “blushing bride” around 100 years ago when young men wore the flowers in their button holes when out courting in South Africa, the natural habitat to this lovely flower. 

 

The rare Serruria florida is a highly desirable small shrub which grows a 4 ft high and wide. The foliage is feathery and hairy.

Because of this ability to trap any available moisture, Serrurias are very tolerant of dry soil conditions.

To grow Serruria successfully, their main requirements are freedom from all but light frosts,full sun and perfectly drained soil.

Blushing Bride flowers in Spring producing soft, papery white bracts or floral leaves, surrounding feathery tufts of white to pinkish flowers. The blooms are either a white/creamy color with a delicate blush of pink, or an all-over rose pink color. They are in high demand for floral work, especially wedding bouquets and normally command a high price.



Blushing Bride Seeds

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9 comments:

Roselie said...

Wow,that's one of the most beautiful flowers I 've ever seen...

Anonymous said...

I agree with Roselie. This is a gorgeous flower, and I can not imagine a whole shrub full of them. I guess you visited my blog and thank you. I can via Blotanical. BTW... Welcome to Blotanical. It is a nice group of garden bloggers.

b-a-g said...

Beautiful. It looks like an exotic version of love-in-a-mist.
Welcome to Blotanical!

HolleyGarden said...

Oh, this is one gorgeous flower! Amazing! I see you're also from Texas! Howdy and welcome to Blotanical!

Cat said...

Best of luck growing this gorgeous shrub! Thanks for stopping by my blog, The Whimsical Gardener. Blotanical is a great community filled with wonderful gardeners; welcome!

linniew said...

Dear Medusa
I just love the head-in-the-mailbox image on the sidebar. THAT is how I feel every time I open mail-- It's ok, gardening makes us all a little crazy. Nice to meet you!

Garden Medusa said...

Thanks bunches for the welcome! I am looking forward to "dig a little deeper" into the blotanicals this weekend. Thanks for commenting!! :)

Unknown said...

I love these flowers. I have been looking to buy the seeds , but I couldn't find them. Could you let me know where you got them from? The link that you've posted doesn't seem to have Serruria florida.

Paula said...

Hello Medusa,

Could you please share your seed sewing instructions for the Serruria?

Thank you!