A litle 'toughie'

Pink Needles - Miniature Stellar

This is a wonderful miniature stellar with pink double flowers and dark foliage.  Hybridised by the late Brian West of the Isle of Wight and introduced in 2001.  Brian hybridised so many of the wonderful plants we have available to us today, and he is much missed by many of the growers and nurserymen who knew him.  

Pink Needles is a strong grower. A couple of winters ago I thought I had lost the one growing in my conservatory and put the plant outside the door so that I could throw the plant on the compost heap.  Of course, it is a small plant in a small pot and it was overlooked when dashing in and out, until about four weeks later I spotted a new shoot growing on the side of the dead plant.  We must have had a few degrees of frost, and it was growing against the wall of the conservatory, but still, it would have got very cold out there.    It's a real little 'toughie'.