Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Gerbera Garvinea Cheeky Red

Group/Class:  Cheeky Series

Description:

A lovely series that produces compact uniform plants, perfect for borders, garden landscapes and patio containers; features bright and bold pops of color on mini flowers up until frost; deadhead to encourage new blooms; excellent in fresh cut bouquets

Ornamental Features

Cheeky Red Gerbera features bold red daisy flowers with yellow eyes at the ends of the stems from early summer to mid fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its tomentose lobed leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Cheeky Red Gerbera is an herbaceous annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Cheeky Red Gerbera is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Cheeky Red Gerbera will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 16 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 14 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Cheeky Red Gerbera is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.