Pocketbook Plant

Botanical Name: Calceolaria herbeohybrida

Pocketbook Plant gets its name from the puffy, brightly colored flowers that look like pouches or slippers. Other common names for this unusual-looking plant are Slipper Flower and Slipperwort.

Clusters of these glorious, pouch-shaped blooms grow on tall stems above soft, light-green leaves. The heart-shaped leaves are deeply veined with scalloped edges, and reach 6 in (15 cm) across.

Many flower colors are available -- yellow, white, orange, red, maroon or copper, usually with red, purple or brown spots.

These hybrid plants are available in floral shops in spring, their natural bloom time.

Keep your plant cool and moist and you'll enjoy its masses of blooms for several weeks. Discard it after flowering has finished. It's an annual and won't bloom again.

Origin: Hybrids

Height: 12 in (30 cm)

Light: Bright light; no direct sun.

Water: Keep soil evenly moist at all times. This plant may not recover if the soil is allowed to dry out. Avoid watering over the crown of the plant because it may cause root rot.

Humidity: Requires moist air. Stand the pot on a tray of wet pebbles to increase the humidity around the plant.

Temperature: Cool 45-50°F/7-10°C at night; 55-60°F/13-16°C during the day

Soil: Peat moss based potting mix

Fertilizer: Do not fertilize while in bloom.

Propagation: Seed