If you love cutflowers, you MUST grow Gerbera Daisies, and Jaguar Mix is the name you can always rely on for bright blooms and plenty of 'em! This highly uniform mix brings you blooms earlier and more heavily than any other, continuing nonstop all season!
You might be wondering what a "uniform" mix is (and whether or not it's a good thing!). In terms of plant varieties, uniformity is a great asset. Many times each color in a given series will bloom at a slightly different time, so you never really get a multicolored display. Other times, the colors will vary in terms of height, flower size, or bushiness, which can affect the appeal of the planting. But the Gerbera Jaguars are highly uniform in color, bloomtime, and size -- you get all the bright shades of yellow, pink, red, blue, green, and white for which this series is known, blooming at exactly the same time on plants all 10 to 12 inches high and about 6 to 8 inches wide!
And Jaguar is not only uniform, it's very heavy-blooming. An individual plant can have up to 5 flowers open at once, and the blooms continue freely all summer. Cut or deadhead them promptly, and new buds spring up all the faster! No one ever complained about having too many Gerber Daisies, so this is quite an advantage!
Gerberas are heavy feeders, thriving in very well-enriched garden soils as well as containers. Make sure they get full sun, plenty of food, and consistent levels of water. They will repay you richly!
Sow the seeds uncovered (or dropped into the pre-drilled holes of the sponges in your Bio Dome at about 72 degrees F, or direct-sow outdoors when the soil is thoroughly warm in spring. If starting indoors, the seeds should sprout within two weeks, and can be grown on at 72 to 75 degrees F with plenty of light and fairly high humidity. (Again, in the Bio Dome, leave the dome on, vents open, until the seedlings outgrow their space or become too crowded in the tray.) Transplant when the seedlings have at least two sets of true leaves and the soil is completely warm in spring. Or move them into their container with a good potting mix! From sowing to blooming, Jaguar should take between 18 and 24 weeks. So easy and so rewarding over a long midsummer into fall season! Hardy in zones 8-11, grown as an annual everywhere else. Pkt is 10 seeds.
