Rhodoxis Summer Stars Peppermint

The x Rhodoxis Summer Stars Peppermint is a creeping hybrid variety with slightly greyish green leaves that produces numerous small white flowers with a red throat. Its flowering period is very long throughout the beautiful season, as long as the soil does not dry out too much. Not very hardy, it will decorate rockeries in regions where the winter is mild. It will also add a touch of exoticism to the terrace.

This cultivar Summer Stars Peppermint (Summer Stars Series) is the result of hybridization between a Rhodohypoxis baurii and a Hypoxis. That's why it is also often called Rhodoxis 'Peppermint'. All these plants belong to the small family of Hypoxidaceae, which is mainly found in the Southern Hemisphere. Rhodohypoxis plants have small fleshy rhizomes and form delightful, very floriferous clumps.

The Rhodohypoxis Summer Stars Peppermint forms a dense carpet about 15 cm (6in) tall and 20 cm (8in) in diameter. Its small star-shaped flowers appear in abundance from May-June to September-October, almost hiding the slender, greyish green leaves adorned with short silky hairs. After flowering, the clump completely disappears until the following spring. The bulb goes dormant. Originating from the meadows of South Africa, where summers are hot and rainy but winters are dry, rhodoxides are rather frost-sensitive. Therefore, you cannot leave them outside all year round, unless winter temperatures do not drop below -6 to -8°C. In less mild regions, it will still be easy to grow them in pots, so they can be brought indoors during the cold season - always ensuring excellent drainage and watering sparingly. They will need to be divided and repotted regularly.

In the garden or in pots, in rockeries or borders, Rhodohypoxis Summer Stars Peppermint can be accompanied, for example, by dwarf agapanthus like 'Double Diamond' or Golden Drop, by Eucomis Freckles, or even by Armeria juniperifolia, which is evergreen and provides presence in winter. Other bulbs, such as muscaris or Iris reticulata, which bloom early, can extend the flowering period in a small exotic scene.