Hampshire,
United Kingdom 
Hello/I have recently bought a calceolaria which has a yellow coulour with red spots,the trouble is that I know nothing about the plant,can anyone please tell me some info on it,like how long it lives and can you plant it outside? Help would be apperciated :-)
24 Jan, 2015
Answers
I used to grow these about 20 years ago along with Cineraria and primula. As MG has said, they are seasonal pot plants, fairly easily grown from seed every year. They come in a wonderful array of bicolour flowers and prefer a bight, cool place.
If i remember rightly, they suffer from aphids and whitefly
and have a pretty fine root system so watch the watering
24 Jan, 2015
That is what we must have seen, unlabled, in Lidl yesterday. I believe that it is usual to grow them directly from seed and treat as annual houseplants.
There are several species of Calceolaria from South America and we grow a few in the garden. They are all short lived but throw out plenty of seed. Amusing little things!
24 Jan, 2015
Thanks for the help,funny thing is I did buy it from lidil, £1.69 it was the most unusual flower I had seen in ages but unusual is unique
24 Jan, 2015
If you Google Calceolaria you will see there are lots of different varieties...
25 Jan, 2015
They were popular in the '70s - we called them Monkeys Slippers (no idea why). They originally come from Patagonia/Chile and are alpine plants so, in theory, should withstand a certain amount of cold but that's probably been bred out by now.
25 Jan, 2015
Well to me it looks more like a deflated balloon! Mabye I could plant it out in the summer in a shady area of the balcony to see how it copes.
25 Jan, 2015
I don't think it needs shade - I would have said as much light as possible.
25 Jan, 2015
The original Calceolaria uniflora is certainly an alpine plant and we have in the garden but the varieties found in the likes of Lidl don't normally survive the garden. They do need good light WLB but not too much heat... i.e. the 18˚C I recommended early and 10˚C at night.
25 Jan, 2015
ok I get the picture, I will also create an artificial humid environment by placing a tray gravel under the plant. thank you
:)
26 Jan, 2015
Unless you have Calceolaria uniflora, which is highly unlikely, then you'll need to grow as a house plant. You probably have Calceolaria crenatiflora which needs to be in good light in cool temperatures (18˚C during the day). Keep soil moist but don't over water. They tend not to be long lived plants.
24 Jan, 2015