I'm World famous...

Codonanthe devosiana (formerly digna or carnosa)

Story # 81,


      I’m World famous, just nobody knows it!


      This is my attempt to think like Yogi Berra.  His best is:  “You can observe a lot by watching.”


      The Story # 79 about improving a Codonanthe species was republished by an international website: newplantsandflowers 

     Don’t know if any commercial plant breeder will find Codonanthe worth investigating.


      The clone that I have is already a legitimate commercial flowering plant for the Miniature Garden & terrarium market … just nobody knows it yet!

How can I get free of Facebook?

There is supposed to be something there but there isn't, sort of like Facebook.

Story # 80, OT


     Facebook sends me continuous e-mails which are intended to make me feel guilty if I don’t do something.



     Some ask me if I know these people?

     Some tell me somebody did something on Facebook?

     Some ask me to be friends with people I may or may not know?


       If I don’t do anything, are my friends mad at me or just the Facebook computer?


     I never had a Fax machine until I needed one.  I have not found a reason to need Facebook.

Can we make a species better?

Codonanthe devosiana (formerly digna)


Story # 79,

      Can we make a species better than it already is?  Is it possible to improve on a species that has survived for untold millions of years in the wild?


      I learned the original definition of a botanical ‘species’ as a plant found in nature that is uniform in it’s characteristics and comes true (identical to the parent) when self-pollinated.


      So if they are all identical then how can they be improved?  It seems that the modern day definition is not as rigid and some species are variable and in some cases can have different colored flowering forms within the species.


      The plant that I want to improve is Codonanthe digna, a small trailing plant with small bell shaped white flowers and orange berries. (The name was carnosa, then digna.  It may now be devosiana).  Well grown plants will self-branch and get a flower at every leaf axil.  It could be a commercial plant in the terrarium market if crop time could be speeded up.


      My proposal is to grow quantities of seed crops of Codonanthe and select for speed and flower size.  In every measurable step, we select the best.  Save the first to germinate and from them, the first to flower.  If flower size improves, of course, save them.  Record the times so we can see if any improvement is made in successive generations.


      Does science support this plan?  I think so.  Plants have been improved by intercrossing species within a Genius.  This is self-pollinating a species and hope for variability. In nature seed germinates at varying rates to insure survivability, so we will just select the fastest.


      Since no one has tried to improve Codonanthe digna, the story is not yet written.  But nothing can be lost in trying since all plants, fast or slow, can be sold.  If somehow flower size improves then all the observation will pay off.


      There is a pink flowered form of Codonanthe from Brazil that we are attempting to establish.  The goal there will be to select for the brightest pink.  Then cross the white with the pink and see if we get hybrid vigor and a big, bright, pink flower on a tough little trailing plant.  But that’s a different story.

Codonanthe devosiana- Pink form (formerly digna)

This story was first published in the Delaware African Violet and Gesneriad Society newsletter and then shown in Gleanings.

So what is the goal?

Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie' in 2" pot (5 cm)

Story # 78,


 So what is the goal?


      I’ve been an opportunist in the plant business.  When I’ve seen an opening in the market for a new plant or a new size for an old plant, I’ve taken chances on there being a demand for it.


      The downside is that you can chase the market and never catch it.  The upside is that you can be progressive and be ahead of trends if you guess right.  We dropped growing market packs of annuals years before others moved into 4" pots.  The trend was that gardeners would pay more for a bigger plant for immediate flowering.


      Currently with very small production space, I’ve moved to small pots ----the Miniature Garden and Terrarium market requires the correct plants in small pots.


      I see miniature Sinningias as a worthwhile tiny specialty.


      The ultimate is one of the world’s smallest flowering house plants ---------Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’


      As described before, S. ’Li’l Georgie’ , a hybrid by Jim Steuerlein, proved to be the breakthrough that had limited the success of micro mini Sinningias.  The hybrid does not require the higher humidity of a closed container.  So now we have a flowering plant that can survive in an open Miniature Garden as well as a terrarium.


      Tissue culture is the only practical means of propagation.  Thousands can be produced.


      So the goal is:  Produce finished flowering ‘Li’l Georgie’s.  There is no competition.


      In marketing theory, this is known as a ‘New Market’.  The size of market or the number of customers is not known because no one ever had the product before.  In ‘New Markets’, it may take years before the demand can be found to absorb the supply.

      Nobody knows.


 The goal is to be the leading supplier of a very miniature flowering plant.

Buzzards are dumb but not stupid!

Baby Buzzard half grown

Story # 77, O T


 Buzzards are dumb but not stupid!


       The pair of buzzards that have nested in my barn for the last two years have hatched and raised three chicks.


      It’s been fun watching the babies outgrow their yellow baby feathers and grow rapidly through the ugly duckling stage to a full set of black wing feathers.

 
      One of their instincts is to go into the sun and dry their wings. 


      It probably takes some weight off and makes it easier to fly.

The Park

NYC Park Rules

Story # 76,  O. T.


      This NYC Park is along the East River.  It was a nice place to sit even though its postage stamp size stretches the concept of a park.


      Of course, there are rules.  How else can you arrest someone for being stupid or annoying if you don’t tell them in advance?


      If you make trash, be sure to not search through it for anything valuable.  

      If a bird or squirrel should somehow visit this park, do not give them any food -----they may decide to come back.


      Humans are not specifically excluded, so I guess you can be there, unless it’s dark.

One person saw it.

Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie'

Story # 75, Part II


       When I was at Longwood Gardens' Plant Shop today making a delivery, I noticed that a woman had a newspaper clipping in her hand.  She was looking for Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ as shown in the Philadelphia Inquirer 8 days ago.


      Since I was stunned by that, I asked her about it.


      We were equally amazed.  She had come to Longwood because the story says that is the only place to find the plant.  And by dumb luck she met the grower.