Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' (Pink African Daisy) - An evergreen perennial with a compact habit to 10 to 14 inches tall with velvety silver-gray foliage and pink flowers that have an orange-yellow eye and appear nearly continuously from April through November.
Plant in full to part sun and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. Hardy to 20-25 degrees F (Zone 9). A great new color selection for perennial beds, accent planting, as a groundcover or in containers. Flowers are attractive to butterflies and the fuzzy gray foliage seems resistant to deer predation. Trim spent flowers (deadhead) to encourage prolonged rebloom.
We received this plant from Florexpo-Gloeckner as part of Amerinova's Ravers series and, like the Sun Spot series, this plant is from the breeding program of Graham Noel Brown of Nuflora International in New South Wales, Australia. This series was bred for compact habit, strong blooming and attractive silver foliage. This is likely a Venidio-Arctotis hybrids or Arctotis Harlequin Hybrids (syn. Arctotis hybrida, X Venidioarctotis) which involved crossing and back crossing several species including Arctotis venusta grandis and Venidium [now Acrtotis] fastuosa. We have grown this plant since 2013.
The genus name Arctotis is derived from Greek words 'arktos', which means "a bear" and 'otos' meaning "an ear" with the implication that the scales of the flower and fruit pappus look like the ears of a bear. The reason for the specific epithet is not clear with the possibility that it come from the Greek word 'stoechas' that refers to a type of mint coupled with 'folia' meaning leaf.
This information about Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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