Calceolaria mexicana

Calceolaria mexicana

I first saw this unusual frost-sensitive annual in the garden of a friend many years ago, where its cute, clear yellow flowers lit up shadier areas. The curious pouched blooms are like inflated slippers, held against a background of bright green, fern-like foliage. In Sydney, it flowers in late winter and spring, whereas in Northern Hemisphere gardens it is grown as a summer/autumn annual. It grows about 20-30 cm tall and forms a mound. It self-seeds from year to year where it is happy. I have never seen it for sale but if you can obtain a young seedling from a friend, it should begin to self-seed at the end of its life. I shake the spent plants around the spots I would like to see it grow next year before consigning them to the compost heap. It is best in part or dappled shade and likes a bit of moisture. It is found in the wild from Mexico to Bolivia. It is sometimes colloquially called slipper flower or ladies' purse. It looks good amongst the warmer-coloured flowers of late winter and spring, and is quite spectacular grown nearby the lime-green bracts of Euphorbia corallioides.