Achimenes Mix - Magic Flower

The Mixed Achimenes brings together several varieties of hybrid Achimenes with flowers of various colours, ranging from white to red, pink, purple, and blue. Appreciated for their endless flowering, these plants form small, compact, and slightly trailing clumps that work wonders in hanging baskets and flower pots. Each trumpet-shaped flower only lives for a few days, but they continuously renew themselves throughout the summer season. You can place them on the terrace or in the garden during summer, in a gently sunny and sheltered spot. Achimenes are cultivated somewhat like begonias, with their "bulbs" kept dry and protected from the cold in winter.

Achimenes x hybridum, or Achimenes, belongs to the Gesneriad family and is a rhizomatous plant native to tropical America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Guatemala, which does not tolerate temperatures below 10°C (50°F). In nature, it is found in slightly humid and semi-shaded places, anchored in stone walls or on rocks, sometimes at high altitudes. Introduced to Europe in the 19th century, different species have been hybridized, giving rise to beautiful varieties intended for the decoration of verandas and interiors. The storage organ is a tuberous root. Over time, the plant forms a rounded and semi-trailing clump, measuring about 30-40cm (12-16in) in height and 40-50cm (16-20in) in width. The vegetation starts early in spring, consisting of flexible and slightly brittle stems that bear oval and pointed leaves, measuring between 3 and 5cm (1 and 2in) wide, slightly hairy, toothed along the edges, dark green in colour, often glossy. Flowering generally starts in May and continues until September-October. The flowers, measuring 3 to 5cm (1 to 2in) in diameter, are formed by a long tube that opens into a corolla with 5 petals. The foliage naturally dries up in autumn, after flowering. It is then time to dig up the rhizomes and store them, for example, in dry sand, in a cool room, protected from light.

Achimenes are often cultivated as annuals, although they can be kept for several years if they are carefully overwintered in a dry and shaded place. They are generous, colourful, and graceful plants, perfectly suited for hanging baskets and flower pots. You can, for example, associate them with Plectranthus, Streptocarpus, impatiens, lobelias, African violets... For the duration of one summer, this fast-growing plant is capable of forming beautiful trailing clumps, for example, to be placed between begonias.