Columnea 'Red Skelton', Sinningia 'Miriam G.", Chrysothemis pulchella

Now, do you want something that puts on a show? This is Columnea 'Red Skelton'. Mine is still a young plant that's living in the same little pot it got shipped in. It requires very little fussing and the blooms are, like some Columneas, very long and bright.

As you can see by the ruler the flowers are over three inches long.

Typical for gesneriads you will notice the four joined stamen holding the pollen. Columneas have an intriguingly shaped flower probably designed to attract a specific pollinator... could it be a humming bird? The color would certainly attract them.

The hairs on the flower tube also show up... another thing gesneriads have in common... lots of hair!

This is a cool miniature Sinningia named 'Miriam G.'.

The splash of uneven darker magenta really highlights the flower's face. If you look to the top left at the back flower in the photo you see that the blossom curves sharply up resembling a pipe for smoking tobacco. Another adaptation to attract a specific pollinator?
 The plant seems to grow reasonably compactly and keeps its shape. A really nice variety.

 I can't resist putting these up on the blog. This is of course a Chrysothemis pulchella.

There are a few things that make this a really cool plant. First, the calyx are so bright orange. They come out before the yellow flower appears and they stay even after the yellow petals are all done and gone.

Another thing about the Chrysothemis is that they are one of the gesneriads that make TUBERS!!! So, even when you goof up, break it off, neglect it and dry it out.... chances are that it will resprout from its tuber like a Sinningia. It's also one of the very brightest yellow/orange gesneriads I can think of .... and being as those are my favorite colors I would suggest you will really have to try one too!

Questions??? Comments???