Sinningia 'Arkansas Empress' has come to light

Sinningia 'Arkansas Empress' by Dr Jon Lindstrom

 

            Sinningia ‘Arkansas Empress’ is a magnificent flowering plant when grown well.

 

            This salmon flowered Sinningia, an F1 hybrid by the late Dr Jon Lindstrom of the University of Arkansas, has many flowers in a terminal cluster.  It then expands into a second whorl of flowers.

 

            This exceptional plant has never been grown commercially.  It’s sterile, so it makes no seed.  Propagation is limited to side-shoot tip cuttings, unless tissue culture could multiply it.

 

            How could it be sold if quantities could be had?

 

            It is a stand-alone specimen plant that could be a premium gift plant for Mother’s Day.   If a continuous supply of small plants were available, it could be flowered at any time of the year.

 

            It’s big enough and showy enough that it could be sold as a flowering plant in mixed Spring/Summer patio planters. 

Beginning as a plantlet with roots, the Sinningia will form a tuber under the finished foliage.  Although not many indoor gardeners want to deal with it, the tuber will resprout and the tuber will grow bigger each year.  My friend, Vicky, has kept hers in a patio planter for years to grow and flower each Summer.

 

‘Arkansas Empress’ will be expensive because of the tissue culture and long crop time, but these salmon flowers will be worth it.

 

This tissue culture project has started, and results could be seen next year.  Updates as they occur --- No guarantee.