Selling plants over some years, each plant develops its own unique history. Diascia is a little known plant we have grown since our beginning. Eager to please anyone willing to walk in my brand new garden center, I promised to find some Diascia for someone. In the mid- eighties, when The Growers Exchange was new, most of our potential customers wanted little more choice than geraniums in red or coral.
Finding that diascia took some looking, but we found some in Florida and added it to our houseplant order. It is strange looking back and seeing what motivated us to begin growing our own plants. What we did have was a neighborhood of gardeners ready to break with traditions and try new plants in their containers and beds. Actually container gardening had not caught on beyond two pots framing the front door, preferably with a neatly trimmed evergreen.
Twenty some years later we realize we have been riding a tidal wave of new plants. Perennials and especially flowering annual plants were bred in all shapes and sizes. That seed grown Diascia we grew years ago would look skimpy compared to the new cultivars we grow now. If you have a dry sunny spot you should try Piccadilly Baskets series Orange and Coral Red, truly beautiful colors.
Diasia ‘Piccadilly Coral Red’