Senecio stellata ‘Giovanna’s Select’ is a seed strain featuring purple, blue, and blue-purple flowers on 3 feet tall plants that thrive under cool, moist, shady conditions. This species is an annual in the Chicago area but is perennial in USDA zones 9 to 10. Free of most insect and diseases (botrytis on the petals in areas with poor air movement is the exception). Seeds are started in February in a cool greenhouse (like pansies and primulas) for planting out after the last of the hard freezes. Taxonomic research using DNA analysis techniques has reclassified this species as Pericallis× hybrida; a cross between P. cruentas and P. lanata. This species in this relatively new genus are all natives of the Canary Islands. Historically this group of plants has been identified as members of the genus Cineraria or Senecio.