I've trained my whole life for this!

Story # 54,  OT


      Nobody in the world knows what I know or what I see.


      In the same manner, I don’t know the same set of information that any other human has.  Since no two people have experienced the same set of events, it’s hard to know what other people are thinking unless they tell you.  In a way they are secrets.


      I’ve given away many secrets with this blog.  Should I worry that someone is going to steal my plan for plants?


      First, few are paying any attention.  Second, ideas are easy, action is hard.


      I have written some ideas that I have about a world problem.  These ideas have been baking for several years and now is the time for the internet world to see.


      This off-topic story will be out in a few days.


           The title------------ Let’s drain the Ocean!

I can see clearly now...

Miniature Garden at the trade show

Story # 53,


      I can see clearly now…..


           If you make something that people ‘remark’ about,
           then it could be remarkable. 

                          Paraphrasing Seth Godin


      Did you see it?


      If this is the buzz after a trade show, then something new and good must have happened.


       At the OFA International Horticultural Trade Show in July, there was a large segment of the 8,000 attendees that were collecting information about Fairy Gardens and Miniature Gardens.


      Presuming that this will carry into next year’s show with more products and players, I can see Sinningias flowing into this mix.

Being an opportunist is a good thing!

My orginial Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie'

Story # 52,


      Being an opportunist is a good thing!


      Back in my Scoutmaster days, there was a part of a Scout’s evaluation for promotion that was called ‘Scout Spirit’.  How could we use this vague ‘catch-all’ to encourage more success in the Scout program?

      It evolved that successful Scouts took advantage of every opportunity to fulfill requirements.  So as we announced activities we would always say ‘Don’t miss this opportunity’ ------- You don’t know when you’ll have the chance to do this again.


      Being an opportunist may sound like you are trying to take advantage of someone but I see it in the best possible light.


      I moved heavily into Sinningias when I saw the opportunity to have them propagated by tissue culture ------ the missing link.


      Never miss an opportunity.

Sinningia 'Deep Purple Dreaming' gets wider distribution.



Sinningia 'Deep Purple Dreaming'

 Story # 51,


      Sinningia ‘Deep Purple Dreaming’ gets wider distribution.


     Sinningia ‘Deep Purple Dreaming’ has been around for awhile.  Dave Zaitlin made this cross of S. concinna and S. sellovii which first flowered in 2002.  Who would have thought to try this?  S. sellovii is an upright tall species with dangling reddish flowers while s. concinna is a micro miniature.


      The result has many dangling purple flowers on an upright compact plant.


      Like many interesting small Sinningias it has been doomed to obscurity without a means to rapidly propagate it.  Tissue culture has solved that, so it can be more commonly available.


      The first finished crop has been at Longwood Gardens’ plant shop.

There are only two parts to work...

Blue Hills for no reason

Story # 50,  OT


      There are only two parts to work….


           Deciding what to do and doing it.



      The one who decides what to do is usually the highest paid and has the most power.


     The one who actually does the ‘decided upon’ work feels like they have the power since they are making the product or service.  The problem is we have interchangeable workers.


     The equation changes when the worker has a craftsman skill that makes them irreplaceable.  Why else would professional baseball players get paid more than the manager?

What if we hold a flower show and everybody comes?

Ladyspipper Streptocarpus 'Blue Ice'

Story # 49,


      What if we hold a flower show and everybody comes?


      The first ever Mid-Atlantic Regional Gesneriad Show, Sale and Symposium will be held on September 29, 30, 2012.  Details are here.http://gesneriadsociety.org/chapters/DAVS/files/RegionalShow.pdf


      The idea of a Gesneriad show on the East coast was proposed by Quentin Schlieder, past President of the Delaware African Violet and Gesneriad Society.  The idea was to have a show in the Fall as a competition with members of the three nearby chapters----Liberty Bell of Philadelphia, the National Capital Area and Delaware.


      The Delaware chapter is hosting the first event at Townsend Hall,  531 South College Avenue, University of Delaware, Newark.  The show is free and open to the public on Sunday, September 30 from 10 to 4.


      In all the planning that Quentin and his committees have done, the question is always-------How many people will come?


      It takes a lot to move people.  There are so many things to see and do, including nothing, it’s amazing that anything new gets attention.


      My part is, together with Mary Schaeffer, to manage the plant sale.  We will have many collector Gesneriads that hobbyist seek.  Once you learn about the Gesneriad family of plants, it is additive.


      I will be supplying finished plants similar to what goes to my commercial wholesale market.  They will be shown here as the show approaches.




Ladyslipper Streptocarpus 'Pinot'



A Fairy Garden is .....

Miniature Garden

Story # 48,


           ‘A Fairy Garden is a garden that a dollhouse would have.’

                            Jeff Sorensen, Fairy Gardens, Inc.        

     This makes sense to me.  The garden would be proportional to the miniature scale of the dollhouse.


      This is the kind of stuff that Grandmothers do with their Granddaughters.  Grandmothers always wished that they had found the time to play when their kids were little.


       ‘A Miniature Garden is one where the fairies have not arrived.’

                         G. Hunter, Gary’s Specialty Plants

        The Miniature Gardens that I’ve seen have accessories like furniture, houses, arbors, pathways, animals, fireplaces, windmills…..

      They are a scene.  They are a landscape with small plants.


      There aren’t any rules.  You’ll know a good one when you see it.  Grandma Moses painted scenes that were out of proportion and she got by.