PROPAGATION. Cuttings.
SPECIAL USES. Dish gardens, indoor bonsai.
Saxifraga sarmentosa Saxifragaceae Strawberry Begonia or Geranium
One of the few hardy perennials that will thrive indoors the year round. Round, hairy silver-veined leaves grow in a rosette from the crown, which also sends out slender red stems, strawberry style, with new little plants that root and grow wherever they touch soil. In late spring the fall stems are topped by cloudlike soft clusters of small white flowers. ‘Maroon Beauty’ is slightly darker, and larger.
More miniature, and more tricky, is the variety tricolor, sometimes called ‘Magic Carpet,’ with smaller, basically gray-green leaves, red-rimmed and variegated with wide areas of creamy white, purple underneath. In cool air and sun, the cream is strongly tinted pink.
CARE. Humid, cool, poor soil, dry.
PROPAGATION. Runners.
SPECIAL USES. Dish and sink gardens.
Saxifraga sarmentosa—a hardy perennial good for indoor miniature gardens