During the summer grow them in a shaded greenhouse, indoors on an East or West windowsill or anywhere that is bright but without strong sunshine – early morning or evening sunlight is weaker and therefore ok.

Their blooms look very similar to African violets with their purple, pink and white hues, but cape primroses also possess red varieties in brilliant colors. The leaves are wrinkled and thick with a fuzzy texture and make an attractive houseplant all by themselves. Streptocarpus information is readily available, making these plants a good choice for novice growers.

A popular house plant, Streptocarpus, (“twisted fruit” from Greek στρεπτός (streptos) “twisted” and καρπός (carpos) “fruit”) is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae (the gesneriads). The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.

The flowers are five-petalled, salverformtubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant, while the pointed, elongate fruit is of a helical form similar to that of the “tusk” of a narwhal.

In the wild, species can be found growing on shaded rocky hillsides or cliffs, on the ground, in rock crevices, and almost anywhere the seed can germinate and grow. For the home, there are now many hybrids of various colours and forms available.

The columbine plant (Aquilegia) is an easy-to-grow perennial that offers seasonal interest throughout much of the year. It blooms in a variety of colors during spring, which emerge from its attractive dark green foliage that turns maroon-colored in fall.

The bell-shaped flowers are also a favorite to hummingbirds and may be used in cut-flower arrangements as well.

Aquilegia (common names: granny’s bonnet, columbine) is a genus of about 60–70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers.

Perennial herbs, with woody, erect stock, roots forming thick rhizomes. The basal leaves are compound, 1–3 ternate, blades 3-lobed -partite, and lobes lobulate and obtuse. The cauline leaves are similar to the basal ones, while the upper ones are bract like.

The hermaphrodite (bisexual) flowers are terminal to stem and branches. They are usually pentamerous (with five spreading perianth petaloid sepal segments). Five tubular honey-leaves are semi erect with a flat limb and spurred or saccate at the base.

Columbine is a hardy perennial, which propagates by seed. It will grow to a height of 15 to 20 inches. It will grow in full sun; however, it prefers growing in partial shade and well drained soil, and is able to tolerate average soils and dry soil conditions.

Fan flower (Scaevola aemula) is an excellent summer annual to grow in hanging baskets, window boxes, containers, or as a bedding plant.

Scaevola is best grown in full sun to part shade and does well in hot, dry summers. It prefers medium, well-drained soil that is kept evenly moist, but not wet. Allow the soil to dry out slightly before watering again to prevent root rot.

Scaevola aemula, the fairy fan-flower or common fan-flower, is a small shrub in the family Goodeniaceae, native to southern Australia. It grows to 50 cm in height and produces white or blue flowers in spikes up to 24 cm long from August to March in its native range. These are followed by rounded, wrinkled drupes to 4.5 mm in length.

The species occurs in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Most of these are mat-forming to a height of 12 cm and spreading up to 1 metre in width. It prefers a sunny or partially shaded, well-drained position and tolerates salt spray and periods of drought.

The species is thought to be the most commonly cultivated of the genus Scaevola, and a large number of cultivars have been developed.

Fuchsias are one of the mainstays of the summer garden. They produce masses of delightful, pendant, bell-like flowers for months on end, from early June to the first severe frosts of autumn.

Fuchsia usually grows in the form of shrub that can reach from 8 inches to more than 13 feet in height, depending on the variety. Fruit of fuchsia are berries. They can be reddish green, red or purple-colored, depending on the variety. Berries are filled with numerous miniature seed.

Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) about 1696–1697 by the French Minim monk and botanist, Charles Plumier, during his third expedition to the Greater Antilles.

Most fuchsias are shrubs from 0.2 to 4 m (8 in to 13 ft 1 in) tall, but one New Zealand species, the kōtukutuku (F. excorticata), is unusual in the genus in being a tree, growing up to 12–15 m (39–49 ft) tall.

Fuchsia leaves are opposite or in whorls of three to five, simple lanceolate, and usually have serrated margins (entire in some species), 1–25 cm long, and can be either deciduous or evergreen, depending on the species. The flowers are very decorative.