David Thompson Streptocarpus from eBay, Black Streptocarpus 'DS Gotika' and more!

 Walter has a little surprise for you today.... he has been on eBay and found something that really made him happy. He found a BLACK flower that matches himself. He was pretty excited about it and figured out how to hack into the Pay Pal account.

*sigh

 First off though (to build excitement), this is Streptocarpus 'Victorian Lace'. It's not a Thompson hybrid but it's available on some of D. Thompson's eBay auctions.

This is a really beautiful hybrid that I hope more people grow!

Now HERE IS THE BLACKEST of the Streptocarpus currently available, - or so it's claimed. As you can see it really does show up as quite "black" although it's a deep indigo purple color. This is called Streptocarpus 'Gotika' which translates out to 'Gothic'.

This was introduced in Russia by Pavel Enikeev.

 It's very showy especially against other lighter Streps like the one directly under it which is Thompson's 'Morning Edition'. Unlike many other eBay sellers, Thompson sends plants that are in bud or in bloom which really sort of enhances the experience of getting that box in the mail. You get instant satisfaction and you don't have to wait to long to see what the flower looks like.

Sometimes the plants, although expertly packed (from all the sellers I've tried) suffer a little from the stress of getting beaten up thoroughly by the shipping services.

 This is another Strep. by Thompson called Saturn. It's got some 'Fleischle Roulette Cherry' heritage in there plus 'Night Beacon'. I think that this will be really showy when grown out as well.

This is a shot of the baby tray with one more variety showing up in the lower left corner of the photo, Azure Giant.

When this plant is a little older the flowers on Azure Giant will easily get to be over FOUR inches across. This is a cool plant!

Even if you are not interested in purchasing plants from eBay, it's very interesting to see what is out there to purchase. Many genus and hybrids that are not available commercially are to be found periodically. I've been trying to get some of Dale Marten' intergeneric hybrids. Changing your search slightly (by adding an 's' to make your word plural for example) can significantly change the results you get. Try out words like 'gesneriad', African violet kin, etc and see what you find.

Comments??? Questions????