Paliavana and Drymonia BLOOMING at last!!!

Hello..... this is a Paliavana!!!!! I"m told it's a Paliavana gracillis, but then again the pictures of it look like a Paliavana tenuiflora. Either way it is a Paliavana and it is mine and it is BLOOMING!!!!!!!!

 Now you have to admit, this is a pretty good looking flower!

The plant is finally happy after being tormented under low-light conditions. Now, that this cutting lives at a proper greenhouse, (it took about 4 months) *poof, it bursts into bloom... and what a lot of bloom it will have too.

 The flowers are in part bat pollinated. I don't have any bats handy to test out this claim, but it seems that it's certainly big enough for a bat to try to put it's little head in there.....

 The plant will have quite a lot of blooms. I'm hoping to see if it will either set some seed, or it can be crossed with a Sinningia or two and make something interesting!

This is something different, it's a Drymonia oinochrophylla. These are really cool little shiny plants that make the nicest rosy purple flowers! An outstanding small gesneriad that does nothing but grow pleasantly and did I mention that the leaves were shiny??? More pix of this one when it opens.

New [to us] Gesneriad

Drymonia oinochrophylla is attractive all year, glossy dark green leaves completely covering the plant. In the summer, it surprises me with a few large violet slipper flowers.


The flower is large, 2 to 3 inches long and and over and inch across. Drymonia flowers [on the ones I've grown] last 2 days. The color is vibrant, a good match for the leaves.
This plant is more than a foot across. The larger leaves are at least 3 inches long.
Very easy to grow and propagate, with some judicious pruning it will keep a dense shape; and
the prunings can make another plant.
Bright but not full sunlight has given me more flowers, but still just a few each summer here in Minnesota. The plant grows well in lower light, and is tolerant of cooler winters. The soil gets a little dry sometimes, doesn't seem to bother it, but it should not go completely dry.
This one is so easy. Add another genus to your collection.
Drymonia is a large genus, many long vines with unusual flowers. This species is compact and holds it's leaves well.
The orange flowers in front are Aeschynanthus humilis. More on this one in another post.