Project plant 'Noreen' Update ... by Patty

 Here are three pictures of Noreen, it has been in bloom for about 3 weeks. Its flowers came out lighter in color than last winter, and I think that shows what I said before, that cooler temperatures bring us dark flowers from the old leaves and even the new ones.

 I've repotted and wicked it about 2 months ago, I kept it at the same 2" size pot, and it is growing on the same shelf as my violets, but for keeping it a little cooler I placed it closer to the fan, and it is doing great now.

The last picture you can see the difference of size and color.






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Thank you Patty for giving us this post!

Part 2 of What's Bloomin' Today, Kohleria 'Ryskan, Cobananthus calochlamys, Gloxinia 'Dragon's Song' and Primulina tabacum

 This is a pretty cool bloom on Kohleria 'Ryskan'. It's' flower is shaped more like a Sinningia and is quite large for a Kohleria.

 It's got nice coloration and the blooms seem to stay fresh for quite a long time.













This is Cobananthus calochlamys. I'm still having trouble getting it to really take off... tried the regular shelf, tried the terrarium... how does anyone else get it to grow well???

 This is pretty cool also.... it's Gloxinia 'Dragon Song' growing in a terrarium. It seems to like the humidity. The flowers are smallish and on the tall spikes which looks sort of striking!

 I was especially taken with the toothed lower lobes of the flower. I'm sure that some hybridization would make for interesting offspring with the right mate for this.

Now I'm thinking of how much fun getting into hybridization would be......

 I don't know why, with all the plants in the world, that they have put the Primulina tabacum in with the gesneriads, but it's a gesneriad and here one is!

The foliage smells like most of the other gesneriads that have fragrant foliage though. I don't personally think the leaves smell anything like tobacco, but they do smell like the Sinningias that are fragrant. Sort of floral/vanilla.

I like the stripes in the flower!


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PS: We are up to 21,400+ views of the blog! Club... help me out here... let's put some really good, informative posts up!!!!

What's Bloomin', xNiphemenes 'Lemonade', Alsobia 'Cygnet', Achimenes 'Grape Wine', S. 'Gabriel's Horn', and Ivy with P. tabacum

 Ok, this is cool.... you have to think this is cool.... it is an intergeneric crossing a Niphea with an Achimenes! You get this cute thing.

I got it as a tiny plant and it obviously needs a couple seasons to grow out and I need to give it more light.

 It's a bit of a string now, but the leaves are very interesting with the dark venation and the bloom couldn't be cuter.

I'm thinking that it has rhizomes??? Haven't looked yet, but soon.... oh soon!

 Here's an old favorite, Alsobia 'Cygnet'. Cool blooms and a nicely compact plant this time.

Sometimes these Alsobias get pretty long and stringy also, but this one is doing pretty well. These would look nice on a natural mount like a cork bark or something similar.

 I've never tried any of the Achimenes prior to this year and I'm hooked.

I've learned some things... squirrels like to dig up the rhizomes and throw them on the ground if you put the pot outdoors.

 You CAN grow them under lights apparently.... I've not yet mastered the lush and full look yet, but the blooms make up for that. This one is 'Grape Wine'.

 Another favorite... one of the sport colors I think. This is Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn' in the pink.

I like the calyx double thing going on.

This is Ivy looking at the Primulina tabacum. She is quite impressed that they look so lush and full. But... she mentions discretely that they need some grooming to remove spent blossoms... 1/2 point off for each of those!

Stay tuned for the second half of "What's Blooming Today".

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Bringing in the Gesneriads from their summer outdoors! And, who knew that Sinningias made tubers so quickly outdoors?

 Here are some pots of gesneriads that went outdoors for the summer.

I had heard quite a few times that gesneriads, especially Sinningias, grow very well outside. Here in Minnesota the season is short and it was especially hot this year but they did seem to grow well.

 Here's a shot of the pots with a Sinningia macrostachya hanging down and if you will notice at the very bottom, blooming with the red tubular flowers.

 The Sinningia that just got popped out of the ground was looking good, note the size of the tuber on this one.

 Ok, so the post is mostly about the tubers! I was getting a kick out of the fact that most were filling the pot from side to side.

If you can see it the tuber starts at the left and goes to the very right side of the pot.

 Yep.... more tubers. This one made multiple tubers from a Sinningia reitzii.











Couldn't resist this shot... you can see the plastic pot distorting right before it pops.

Like this pot... it popped right open and this is what was inside of this Sinningia tubiflora.

Apparently it makes a roundish tuber plus underground stems of some sort also. I don't quite know if you can take these apart now or if you have to let this make more of a colony of plants.











Here's a shot of the tubers which can be separated from each other. They were laying side by side like garlic cloves do.

The outdoor collection is waiting to get into some trays for bringing back inside. They've been treated with Imidacloprid, let's hope it works.

These gesneriads do not seem to get any bug pests or get eaten by such terrors as Japanese beetles, which even tasted the Voo Doo lilies this year... blech!!!!

 Although it looks a lot like Sinningia tubiflora (which it probably has in the ancestry, it is Sinningia 'Apricot Bouquet'. It made a great tuber from only the cutting that got placed outdoors in June.

 The Sinningia macrostachya got long and will probably be trimmed. This Sinningia is especially forgiving and will root easily from cuttings, make giant tubers and won't rot when many other Sinningias seem to.

And lastly (for now) but not least-ly.... a Sinningia cardinalis cutting that went outdoors and managed to bloom! It's in nice shape and will look great under the lights!


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Sinningia 'Diva', Scampering Kittens, African violets outdoors, and Columnea 'Red Skelton'

 This is Sinningia 'Diva' that was given to me by Patrick Worley.  I don't know where he got it or it's background, but it's very lovely and has a good double effect.

The plant is medium in height and not too sprawly!

 Winston is trying his best to look innocent while hiding his sister who is frolicking behind him... note the tail and ears....

This is Ivy. She's wondering why some weirdo human is screaming and shouting and jumping around like the chipmunks do outside. She's confused.

 This is Walter the Gardening Cat. He knows that it takes a more subtle approach to be a gardening cat. First you have to lull the unsuspecting "humans"into a false sense of calm before proceeding to "garden". He knows that if he's very cute and in his box... he'll be all but ignored while he's actually trying to "help" with the gardening.

 This is the dish garden from the spring show. It sits outside in the rain and wind and dappled shade and the African violet grows just fine, thank-you-very-much! So much for the superstition about ever getting any water on the leaves or changes in temperatures... they do just fine as an outside plant as long as they don't have too much direct sun.

The blooms also seem to be a brighter intensity of color. The one drawback is the little chipmunk bites out of the front two leaves however.... oh well....

 I was so excited to see some orange in one of the trays yesterday. It is Columnea 'Red Skelton' which seems to have HUGE blooms on a small plant.

Not bad, eh???


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