Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses' - The New Flowering Plant for Winter

Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses', Budded, 15 October 2014

Story # 137,

            The Great Stagnation is revised.  There have been books written and arguments made that there is nothing new and nobody is working on anything.

            The crop of Hemizygia ‘Candy Kisses’ is budded and will be in flower by Christmas.  Although ‘Candy Kisses’ is sold in the Spring as a contrasting variegated plant for mixed planters, it has never been seen as a Winter flowering houseplant.

            Will gardeners find it interesting with bright variegated leaves and pink flowers or just complain that there is nothing new?

            I’ve decided --- the theory of stagnation in ideas and new products is just stupid.  So I won’t be writing a book about it.

            It has taken 2 years to get to this new crop grown as a flowering plant.  First seen at the Philadelphia Flower show in March 2013, it was not in flower.  Since short days initiate the flowers, that specimen plant in the show must have been growing under lights with extended day length for more growth. 

            Once I found some stock from a propagator in Israel, I’ve been selling small branched tip cuttings in the ‘Mini’ plant mix.

            Since no one is producing 4” pots of ‘Candy Kisses’, I’ve had to make it up as I go along.  Following a similar schedule as Mums and Poinsettias (other short day crops), seems to be working.

            Watch for the finished flowering version at Longwood Gardens and other progressive Garden Centers.

Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses' in 4" pot, branched

It didn't start out as a brand.

Primulina 'Loki'  with custom blue tag

Story # 136,

            At least 80 % of B2B inquiries have come from owners or department heads of Garden Centers looking for small plants after seeing my plants at Longwood Gardens Plant Shop.

            How or Why?

            My 2 ½” ‘Mini’ plants all have a custom blue tag with common name, botanical name, brief culture and ‘Grown by Gary’s Specialty Plants’.

            It evolved.

            My buddy, Dave, a Master Tag rep wants me to get picture tags printed.  Because I have so many unusual varieties, often in small quantities, that would prove to be logistically impossible.

            The answer is to have my own tag printer and print tags as needed.  This has its own problems --- costly and time-consuming.

            But these blue tags (my favorite color) have become a recognizable benefit to the consumer.

            It’s amazing to me that Garden Centers will demand name tags to help with self-service and then accept tags that are so general and non-specific that they are almost worthless.

            As more and more Garden Centers are adding my ‘Mini’ plants to their mix, the blue tag plants stand out as the ones to buy.

Primulina could become a common houseplant!

Primulina 'Loki' growing at the West window

Story # 135,

            This picture of Primulina ‘Loki’ is why I’ve changed my mind about Primulina as a potential houseplant.

            I’ve grown hundreds of thousands of houseplants in the greenhouse but have seldom been able to keep a plant alive in the house.

            These two plants have been growing at the West kitchen window for months.  One went to Nashville and was entered in the national Gesneriad Society flower show and came back.  The leaf damage is from the wind knocking them off the shelf, not a plant fault.

            They can be dry without harm and are now budded.

            What’s not to like?

Primulina ---- Like an African Violet, but better!

The Plant Matters!

Blue Job's Tears - Pilea glauca - Groundcover

Story # 134,

            In the internet world, the advice/warning is ‘Content Matters!”  There is an industry of advisors preaching that ‘Content Matters!”

            What does this mean?

            I’ve come to believe that in advertising with words, that it matters what you say and how you say it.  Most advertising is ignored unless it’s something that you actually want to know about.

            The equivalent in horticulture is ‘The Plant Matters!’  The industry thrives on improving varieties and introducing new plants to gardeners.

            With my focus on ‘Mini’ plants for Miniature Gardens, the plants have been selected for use in that category.  They are houseplants that are proportional to small scenes in Miniature Gardens and Terrariums.  We are continually looking for plants that are small and have a purpose as a tree, shrub, vine, flowering or groundcover.

            All of the specialist propagators of small plants, who are trying to catch up with the demand, have their assortment.  Surprisingly there is not much overlap in varieties --- Everybody has their opinion.  I, of course, believe that my selected ‘mini’ plants are the best!

            Each plant matters.

How to create a new commercial crop.

Primulina 'Loki' hybridized and grown by Peter Shalit

Story # 133,

            Walmart has a deceptively simple system for sales.  They continually monitor what sells and then get more of that.

            To create a new commercial crop we need supply to be introduced into the market.  Every Garden Center is looking for the “What’s new?” plant.  “New” keeps gardeners interested.

            Commercial plant production has evolved into three phases --- the specialist propagator, the grower/finisher and the retail garden center.  The last two in the chain may try a new plant but will only continue if it can be finished in 3 months or less and be durable enough to survive shipping and hold up in the store for weeks.

            Can Primulina ‘Loki’ be entered in this race for acceptance as a commercial crop?

            Nothing can happen until a specialist propagator decides to take a chance on producing Primulina.  At the moment, there are limited stock plants.

            A parallel crop to study is Cyclamen.  It is a long crop from seed to flower, so an extra step evolved --- pre-finished.  A finisher may decide to pot twice as many as he needs and then sell off budded plants in order to have room to space out his own.  This gives the final finisher the illusion that it is a short crop.

In any case, for Primulina to be grown as a flowering houseplant, multiple production segments may be needed to get it to flowering within a year.

Do Primulinas have the same potential as African Violets?  Violets started with only blue flowers, leaves that were brittle and detaching flowers.  Holtkamp Greenhouse solved these problems and now produces millions, worldwide.

There are Primulinas with blue, yellow and white flowers but flowering time is prohibitive. That leaves it to be grown as a small foliage plant and P. ‘Loki’ is the best one.

            If they sell, we’ll get/grow more.

Will Primulina 'Loki' break the commercial barrier?

Primulina 'Loki' grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 132,

            Primulinas, formerly named Chiritas, have never been a commercial crop.  Growers who may be familiar with these Gesneriads, native to China and North Vietnam, soon eliminate them as a flowering houseplant when it’s learned that it may take a year or more to flower.

            My friend, Quentin Schlieder, has been trying to get me to see the value in Primulina.  I’m starting to come around.  The variegated forms are interesting as foliage plants.  I’ve propagated P. vericunda, P. ‘Betty’ and P. ‘Loki’ and easily sold the few that I’ve had in 2 ½” ‘Mini’ pots.  They are young variegated plantlets that are attractive as little rosettes---- no flowers required.

            Primulina ‘Loki’ is a hybrid by Peter Shalit, past President of the Gesneriad Society and a hybridizer famous for not releasing selections too soon before testing them.

            All of my ‘Loki’s have been grown from a single leaf of Peter’s  show plant that he handed me during break-down at the Mid-Atlantic Gesneriad Show at the University of Delaware in 2012.

            Since I had not been following Primulina, I didn’t have the story until later.  P. ‘Loki’ is a cross between P. brassicoides and P. dryas ‘Latifolia Dwarf’.  Peter tells me that it has hybrid vigor and was the most compact seedling he selected.

            So what commercial plants are sold as small foliage plants and if they eventually flower you get a surprising bonus?  Succulents or cactus, maybe?

            I’ve seen ‘Loki’ used in Terrariums and Miniature Gardens with great success.  It is a better long term choice with its variegation than Mini Violets which look nice while flowering but need replacing.

            Primulina ‘Loki’ is propagated by rooting leaves, similar to African Violets.  I finally have enough stock plants to stick several hundred leaves.  Once a steady supply of 2 ½’ plants can be produced, we will find out if there is demand.

            Primulina ‘Loki’ with its distinctive variegation and faster growth may be the one that gains commercial acceptance.  But it will take time.

Primulina 'Loki' grown by Jay Sespico

Do you bid on 'A hope and a promise'?

Streptocarpus 'Fred's Moon Lines' (Bellairs) grown by Dale Martens

Parents of 'Fred's Yellow Ice' and 'Fred's Moon Lines'

Story # 131,

            I went to the Gesneriad Society National Convention in Nashville to show Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ and came home with a new Streptocarpus.

            Thankful to be judged with the Best Commercial Display, it was worth the effort to show multiple ways S. ‘Li’l Georgie’ can be used in Terrariums and Miniature Gardens.

            The hobbyists who show at Convention are true experts in the culture and hybridization of these infinitely diverse plants.  There was a new Streptocarpus in the silent auction grown and donated by Dale Martens, the genius leader of the Gesneriad Hybridizers Association.

            The hybrid, S. ‘Fred’s Yellow Ice’ was in the judged flower show and the entry card showed the hybridizer as Fred Bellairs in Michigan.  The parents of S.  ’Fred’s Yellow Ice’ are S. ‘Keigetsu’ (K. Hirose) and S. ‘Fashion Statement’ (D. Thompson).

            The plant for sale was muti-flowered with large crisp flowers and distinctive line markings.  I’ve grown S. ‘Keigetsu’ and know it to be a strong plant, while the pollen parent was an unknown.  Maybe it’s worth taking a chance.

            The silent auction is a way to donate money and get something that you want.  I was successful in the bidding but had to pay $130 to get it.

            Will my prize be a good one?  One strategy in hybridizing is simply cross the best with the best and hope for the best.

             Streptocarpus ‘Fred’s Yellow Ice’ has flowered all summer.  Some leaves have rooted and may be salable by Christmas.

            ‘Fred’s Yellow Ice’ is a very nice selection by Fred Bellairs and has a nice story to go with it.  Thank you to Dale Martens for introducing it.

Streptocarpus ''Fred's Yellow Ice' (Bellairs) grown by Dale Martens - Nashville 2014