Well, maybe perennial...time will tell. Wahlenbergia krebsii.

DO NOT like the hassle of growing things from seed, but was growing increasingly frustrated that no one had completely filled the niche Seneca Hill Perennials once held, of trying to produce a large variety of South African mountain flowers that could reasonably be expected to be zn 7 or better hardy. Between Annie's, Dancing Oaks, and Far Reaches...you can get a portion of her former offerings...but they don't seem to be growing as many of the obscure species as Ellen Hornig would.

Granted, those plants didn't always do well for me. I ordered a Sebaea from Ellen back in the the early 2000s, and it quickly faded in our heat and humidity. And high elevation Dieramas will persist for years, they are vegatatively hardy enough for most winters around here, but many will never bloom. Presumably because they do not get cool night required for vernalization. If they do bloom, it will be over in a flash. But I was captivated by the look of Wahlenbergias, which I'd grown from seed myself back in 2003 or so. I've also realized that the threat of instant death from rain, warm nights and humidity around here can be partly alleviated by growing plants in mounds of pure sand. I mean pure. Not even a little compost or organic material blended in.

So, said to myself...gotta get a last order from Silverhill seeds in. Who knows how much longer they will last. My first order was seized, something they say is extremely unlikely. So I went through the hassle of getting a USDA import permit. Had to pay for the order again. Finally got them much too late in the season for optimal seed starting.

Well, they were very slow to start. And a few of them died along the way. I moved them from flats to garden when they were 1.5" high. Because they are in pure sand, I did fertilize them a couple times afterwards, which is not what I generally think is a good idea with seedlings of wild plants. They are also under the eaves of my 1 story house, so are partly protected from excess rain. However this was our rainiest summer ever, and the frequently blowing winds meant that area got soaked at times. BUT the sand prevented the soil anoxia that apparently lets Phytophthora et al. run rampant. The plants never showed any signs of checking; I believe out in the open in my clay loam soil, they would have drowned.

Even the earliest round of blooming was a bit disappointing. A few smallish flowers on tall wirey stems. But I just took these pictures and I can definitely say it was worth all the hassle and waiting. They have filled in and have an impressive ornamental effect, especially because it's been an ongoing, improving show for 2 months now. There's something very 3 dimensional about the display, so it's hard to capture with pictures. But trust me anyone would be happy to have this in their garden. The stems are 12"-20" tall and the flowers roughly 1" across.

BTW, I now see that Annie's had this for sale at some point in the past. I didn't mean it had never been sold at all in the US, just that it and other rare KZN wildflowers are harder to obtain than they should be.

Final BTW2 - am trying various other forbs including some Asteraceae...they either haven't done anything yet or have truly been agonizingly slow. (Gerbera crocea...the one plant that survived has a single leaf that is 2mm X 3mm!)