Haberlea

Haberlea - H. rhodopensis is a pretty little rock plant with flowers resembling a Gloxinia in miniature, forming dense tufts of leaves, every rosette bearing in spring one to five slender flower-stalks, each with two to four blossoms, nearly 1 inch long, of a bluish-lilac color with a yellowish throat. The typical species is a shy bloomer. Quite the best of the colored forms is that known as Ferdinandi Coburgii, the flowers being much larger and more freely produced. Imported examples show considerable variety, both in habit and flower—the outcome, as it would appear, of natural crosses. A choice and rare sort is the pure white-flowered H. virginalis. In cultivation, all the Haberleas are happy in cool shaded places between rocks in deep sandy loam, or with peat added. Dryness they abhor. Flowers in May and June. Best increased by seeds, sown as soon as ripe. Native of the Balkan Mountains, where they are found among moss and leaves on damp, shady, steep declivities at high elevations.