PlantFiles: Flaming Katy, Christmas Kalanchoe, Florist Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Calandiva Pink'

I have a Calandiva growing permanently outside which does well, never had any problems with it, even in full sunlight in mid-summer it does well. Keeps on blooming all the time and grows quite rapidly.

A striking plant! All the colors were available at Lowe's last week, and under $4 a pot. I got the magenta color, but was really tempted by all of them. I have not been excited over a kalanchoe in years!

Sun exposure for this plant is supposedly full sun/partial shade but I have pink, red, orange & white which all do beautifully in part sun. Every time I put them in part shade they begin to lose their leaves, branches become scraggly, their leaves become pale green with dark brown areas on them.

They were all moved back to part sun where they seem happiest. Bitter sweet experience - had to trim the scraggly branches but they'll root and expand our kalanchoe family.

I just discovered this plant yesterday at a local Lowes. I was cruising for unusual orchid seedlings in their bulk grower plants and happened to see what I immediately recognized as a Kalanchoe by its leaves.

Leaves are where the resemblance stops, however. They had two, one in bright magenta and one in salmon, both covered in masses of tiny, fully double blooms and buds. Both were in tiny pots and were on the dry side. I bought the better looking plant and repotted it up to an 8" azalea clay as soon as I got it home.

So far it seems right at home and the proportion is much better. If this plant grows like most Kalanchoes it should be a rampant grower and propagate easily. It was also fairly inexpensive so I suspect it will be very easy as a house plant. If I still lived in south Florida I would be very likely to try it as a border or in a mass planting.

I suspect it will be a lower type, around 10", and will not tolerate much cold. I plan to treat it like a zygocactus and may have to return for the magenta one. I do plan to search for other colors as well. According to the grower's tag, this plant comes in a wide variety of colors from white through yellow, orange, pink, and magenta.

Fides Holland BV's Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Calandiva Pink' was a winner of the Spring 2003 FloraStar potted plant award. It has all the normal characteristics of the blossfeldiana type varieties, but it is unique because no other variety is known to have decorative flowers in Kalanchoe. Instead of four flower petals this type has at least 26 flower petals.

The flowers look like tiny miniature roses.