One Streptocarpus........., Two Streptocarpus.........

Streptocarpus picked for sale -- Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 29,


      One Streptocarpus………., Two Streptocarpus………


      I have found myself avoiding the so called correct plural form of Streptocarpus, which some dictionaries list as Streptocarpuses.


      It’s hard not to smile when hearing the Christmas song: ‘All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus’.  Part of the cuteness is when the girl has to add another syllable to sing Hippopotamus es.


      You are welcome to say:  All of the sheepes, the mooses, the deers and the Streptocarpuses, but--------------

      I prefer to keep it at one Streptocarpus………, Two Streptocarpus………

Nothing can be sold until it has a name and a use!

Table Top Garden with Begonias

Story # 23,


      Nothing can be sold until it has a name and a use!


      The names Streptocarpus and Sinningia are not commonly known, but if you do learn about them, then you have a new category in mind.  We think of Chrysanthemums as Fall color and Roses for very special events.  Annuals are planted in the Spring and perennials come up every year.


      So what is a Streptocarpus or Sinningia for?


     They are not winter hardy nor indestructible so they fall into the houseplant or patio pot category.  As a houseplant, plant people want to learn how to grow  them forever.  Causal consumers just want pretty things for temporary use.


     A common question in plant selection is:  ‘Will this fit in my nice ceramic pot that I have at home?’  Decorative pots need refilling.  A Streptocarpus is great for that.  A Sinningia is lower and smaller so they can work for Table Top Gardens in combination with Begonias and Ferns.

     More Streptocarpus and Sinningias would be sold if we knew what to do with them.

Innovator:

Begonia Solenia 'Dusty Rose' - Best of the best!

Story # 22,
     
      Innovator: _____    _______

      Business Week magazine has a regular feature in the Technology section called Innovator.  It features a scientist or otherwise very smart person who has made some advance in science and product development.  I like these kinds of stories and usually read them first.

     The plant world will never get this kind of attention but plant hybridizers are continually innovating with new hybrids.  The genius is in their selection process.  But first they have to see a plan of what combination of plant characteristics are possible, and then carry out the crosses to discover what genetics will give them.
     
     I’ve been asked how horticulture has changed since I started 40 years ago.  The answer is that the plants are better.
     
      The innovators in the plant world are doing a good job!

Why worry?

Patio pot from 2007 grown by Hunter's Greenhouse

Story # 19,

            Why worry?

            One of the best things I’ve done is read Seth Godin’s blog every day.  His marketing advice makes sense to me and he has been a great cheerleader for telling you to: Just do it! It is sent by e-mail each day.

            You can sign up to receive my blog automatically by e-mail.  Find it at the very bottom of the blog pages.  Just enter your e-mail address and FeedBurner will send an e-mail request for you to click on a link to confirm that you want to do it.

            Thereafter, my blog will arrive by e-mail every time one is published.

            Why worry about remembering to look for it?

Will Sinningia 'Magic Moment' make the cut?

Sinningia 'Magic Moment' hybridized and grown by Ben Paternoster

Story # 18,

            Will Sinningia ‘Magic Moment’ make the cut?

            When I looked at the pictures from the Long Island Gesneriad show I saw some new Sinningias that I had not seen before.  Sinningia ‘Magic Moment’ looked very interesting with three flowering shoots with multiple rosy flowers.

            It was grown and shown by Ben Paternoster, the hybridizer.  When I contacted Ben, he told me that his hybrid is a cross of S. conspicua and S. amambayensis and was registered in 2004.   Ben offered me a plant to try and I have it here to evaluate for possible commercial production.

            The parent, S. amambayensis, had flowered easily last Fall when my friend, Mary Schaeffer, had given me a plant.  I had 10 flowers open at one time.  The leaves are sticky so I don’t know if that will be an issue with the hybrid.  Sticky leaves don’t matter unless you are trying to get dirt off the leaf.  Petunias are sticky and it hasn’t stopped them from being a top-selling annual.

            The plant shown of Sinningia ‘Magic Moment’ is somewhat tall growing from the tuber so we will need to see if young plants will, on first flowering, be shorter.

            This will be a continuing story…….

What is the perfect Streptocarpus for the future, Part IV

Streptocarpus 'Rose Halo' from Dibley's

Story # 17, Part IV,

            What is the perfect Streptocarpus for the future, Part IV?

            When picking an order for delivery to a retail store, I pick the plants with the most flowers open and the most buds showing.  The idea is that the customer will see the flower that they like and have the buds open at their house.

            The problem with this strategy is that the Streptocarpus may never get bought in the first place since it is not showy Now.  The ‘Flush’ characteristic solves this.  To have many flowers open at once is a good thing.  If they hold up nicely in the house then we will call it success.

            Next we would like it to reflower.  Now that we have gone from ideal greenhouse conditions to infinitely different and variable home conditions, reflowering is uncertain.

            A flush of flowers that hold on tight for several weeks is more important than continuous flowering.

            If we can have both, then we have something.

What is the perfect Streptocarpus of the future, Part III

Streptocarpus 'Jealous Heart' grown by Jon Lindstrom

Story # 17, Part III,

            What is the perfect Streptocarpus of the future?

            Streptocarpus wilts when the temperature is over 85 degrees F., even if watered.  Many growers, not knowing this, have rushed to water the wilted plant when it does not need water.  It needs cool.

            Many experienced hobbyist are disappointed that they can not keep Streptocarpus alive during the heat of the summer.  Global warming or not, we usually have periods of 100+  degrees every summer in Pennsylvania.

            Last summer I observed that S. ‘Jealous Heart’ did not wilt down in the two weeks of 100 degree heat. So by dumb luck, I discovered at least one clone that has heat tolerance.  If this is transferable, then we can create a series of heat tolerant Streptocarpus.

            This could be a ten year project but it could help make Streptocarpus the next ‘Big’ thing.  At present commercial growers do not attempt to finish Streptocarpus crops in the summer time.

            Heat tolerance could change everything. 

What is the perfect Streptocarpus of the future, Part II?

Streptocarpus 'Ako Lemon Spirit' with 'Flush' of buds



Story # 17, Part II,

            From the varieties that we have already, we know that a new release better be more than a pretty flower.

            Flower size seems to be inversely correlated.  If you get big flowers, there are less of them.  But since we know 12 – 16 flowers per peduncle are possible, why not always expect that?  The unusual hybrid ‘Dale’s Scarlet Macaw’ routinely  get 26 flowers per cluster.

            We have varieties with short leaves.  Why not always have short leaves so they don’t get broken off.

            Dale Martens, a genius amateur Gesneriad hybridizer, has shown that a ‘Starfish’ plant habit is possible.  If this symmetrical shape could replace the annoying ‘one big leaf, one little leaf’ growth habit of Streptocarpus, we would have something to rival African Violets.

            Another characteristic that I observed while watching S. ‘Ako Lemon Spirit’ set bud and flower is what I would call a ‘Flush’.  Many flower spikes came up at once giving a ‘Flush’ of flowers.  This is a very important thing to happen in commercial crops----uniform flowering.

What is the perfect Streptocarpus of the future?

Streptocarpus 'Ambra' from Poland



Story # 17, Part I,

            This question could take a lifetime to answer.  As a declared amateur hybridizer, I see many plans of attack to improve Streptocarpus hybrids.

            Many variable plant characteristics are evident in modern hybrids.  Since we know that all genetic characteristics segregate independently, the combination of the best can be achieved if you have enough time.

            When I used to give talks about hybridizing Streptocarpus, I would ask the question:  ‘What is the most important thing to select for?’

            It was never intended to be a trick question.  We think about bud count, earliness to flower, continuous flowering or heat tolerance.

            The most important selection criteria has to be the flower color.

What is the perfect Streptocarpus?

Streptocarpus 'Cape Essence' - - Scented

Story # 16,

            Are we talking about the group that exists or the fantasy of what could be?

            Fortunately there are many colors, sizes and shapes to pick from.  What’s your favorite color?  There are velvety dark purples, pinks, reds and whites.  They used to say that blue was a hard color to find in plants.  I’m not sure why?  There are many very good blue Streptocarpus flowers.

            I like very strong, bright colors and distinctive markings.  In between shades are Ok but muddy colors are not.

            Some people love double flowers but I don’t.  A semi-double Streptocarpus flower looks like it never really gets open.

            Scented flowers may evolve.  Everybody instinctively wants to sniff a flower and is usually disappointed.  The strongest scented one that I have, ‘Cape Essence’, has a floral smell, but will never be confused with an Easter lily or Hyacinth.

            The perfect Streptocarpus is the one you like.  Or maybe the next one you find?

What would you do if you had the best Streptocar[us in the world?

Streptocarpus 'Harlequin Blue' by Dibley's Greenhouse, U. K.

Story # 15, Part II

            In 2010 the Royal Horticulture Society at the Chelsea Flower Show selected a Streptocarpus as Plant of the Year.  Dibley’s Greenhouse won this award for ‘Harlequin Blue’, a blue and yellow bicolor which is very striking.

            This is like winning the Super Bowl in the English plant world.

            Since Dibley’s do not ship into the United States, this great plant is mostly unavailable.  Fortunately, ‘Harlequin Blue’ has been bootlegged into the collections of hobbyist and has shown up on eBay occasionally.

            I have eight plants. From these stock plants, plants can be propagated to sell through selected retail outlets.  By simple supply and demand, they will be expensive.

            I’ve been told that a well grown plant of ‘Harlequin Blue’ looks like Easter-----yellow and egg shell blue.

Where are the professional plant breeders when you need one?



Streptocarpus 'Myfanwy' by Dibley's Greenhouse, U. K.



Story # 15, Part I

            I consider myself to be an amateur plant hybridizer.  Amateur----- because no one ever paid me to do it.  I am self-taught.  I have friends who are university trained and work as professional plant breeders.  They work on whatever plant category the company requires.  None in the U.S.  are working on Streptocarpus that I know of.  The last paid plant breeder was at Oglevee/Ecke Greenhouses but they dropped production, apparently because the numbers were too low.

            I came from the other direction.  I learned about Gesneriads first and the fun of hybridizing second.

            The leading Streptocarpus hybridizing specialist is at Dibley’s in the U. K.  They are a wholesale and retail mail-order greenhouse serving Europe.  Creating new varieties can be fed into their own production to help subsidize the cost of the research & development (2 – 5 years to evaluate a new variety)

Testing!

Sinningia 'Towering Inferno' sold by Plant Delights Nursery

Story # 14, Part II

            The subject of evaluation of new plants is always an issue.  Just because you have a new Sinningia doesn’t mean that it’s any good.

            Testing of a product depends on at what scale it will be sold and what is the necessity of it being without fault.  Plants come and go.  The good ones survive.

            So how do we know which are the good ones?  The market place is brutal.   People talk.

            Sinningia is such a minor crop that word-of-mouth whether it is good or bad doesn’t get much press.  But through hobby flower shows and of course, the internet, the bad plants or the good plants including Sinningias get sorted out.

            Sometimes ‘Just put it out there for the people to see’ is not a bad strategy.

Innovation is so easy in horticulture!

Streptocarpus shown by GreenFuse as experimental



Story # 14, Part I

            All you need is time, money and talent.

            Through plant breeding, hundreds of new varieties are introduced by commercial plant companies at the national plant trials and trade shows.  In the top three crops of Poinsettia, Chrysanthemum and Geranium, the completion is stiff.  Breakthroughs are less common because of previous intensive breeding programs.

            However, in minor crops, like Streptocarpus and Sinningias, the chance of developing a new, different and maybe better plant is easy.  Streptocarpus hybrids can be made in less than a year and Sinningias even faster.  Evaluations are done quickly.  If the new hybrid looks different, it can be released and let the public decide.

            The new or different always creates interest.



In your opinion...

The best-- Brugmansia 'Peach Parfait' grown by George and Joan Postlethwait

Story # 13,

            In the TV show, The Good Wife, the lawyers run up against a female judge who demands that every statement be given as: ‘In my opinion……’

            I don’t know if this is an inside joke for lawyers.  One attorney caught unaware, argues that all statements in court are presumed to be in ‘their opinion’.  The judge was not impressed with that and continues to require them to say ‘In my opinion’.

            Everything that I say in these stories will be: ‘In my opinion….’.  It makes writing a lot easier when you don’t have to defend or footnote everything-------It’s just an opinion!

Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn'---Who knew that this would sell?

Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn' grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 12,

            Sinningia ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ is in tissue culture production in the hope that big quantities can be sold.

            Its flower is an example of what is called ‘double calyx’ or ‘hose in hose’.  ‘Double calyx’ doesn’t explain everything.  The corolla of the flower has extra petals that come from where the calyx normally grows.  The ‘hose in hose’ comes from the look that a water hose is inside another hose when looked at from the front end.

            All of this is of interest to plant collectors and important to Sinningia hybridizers.  However, to the causal plant buyer, it only matters if the flower is pretty.

            Nobody knows if ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ will be a successful commercial plant because there have never been sufficient quantities to find out.

            It will be for sale at Longwood Gardens in eight to ten weeks.

            It is a mid-sized mini Sinningia that is capable of high bud count and having many flowers open at once.  With multiple flowering shoots coming off of the tuber, it can be spectacular.

So what's the story?

Sunflowers grown at Hunter's Greenhouse - 2004

Story # 11,

            “People will pay a premium for a story, every time.” ------------Seth Godin

            On the chat room, Gesneriphiles, writers, when talking about a particular plant, comment on when and where they got it, e.g., ‘I think I got it at the 2009 convention in Sliver Springs.’

            Does the source have anything to do with the plant?   I don’t think so but it makes for a better story.

            “I always get my annuals and hanging baskets from Henry’s Farm and Greenhouse every year.”  If our neighbors tell you this, it means that they want to support our local grower.  And it’s implied that if you were smart, you would get them there, too.

            Is a plant that you bought at Longwood Gardens better?  You would not think that anybody would care where you bought something.

            But it’s almost always part of the story.

Will xSinvana 'Heartland's Maverick' get enough flowers to attract attention?

xSinvana 'Heartland's Maverick' grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 10, Part II

            Some people like big and showy.  That’s why Florist’s Gloxinia sell.  Some like small and cute.

            xSinvana ‘Heartland’s Maverick’ will grow and flower in a 3 ½” pot.  It is a mid-sized mini Sinningia with firm purple slipper shaped flowers.  It only gets one flower per leaf axil so it’s difficult to get more than 1 or 2 open at one time. 

            The solution is to pinch it to get multiple branches that can flower at the same time.  Or grow 2-3 plantlets per pot.

            The flowers can last many days so that may be good enough.

            An older plant with many branches will have multiple flowers, but if you never buy in the first place, you won’t get to see them.

One of the newest Sinningia introductions is 'Heartland's Maverick'. Will people look?

xSinvana 'Heartland's Maverick' grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

 Story # 10, Part I

            We don’t know why customers buy a particular plant.

            The Sinningia hybridizer works for the different and the improved.  Sometimes you just get what you get.

            ‘Heartland’s Maverick’ is an unlikely cross between xSinvana ‘Mount Magazine’ and a mini hybrid, S. ‘Los Angles’.  An unlikely hybrid, because xSinvana ‘Mount Magazine’ was predicted to be sterile.  Dale Martens made many tries of the cross and was successful.

            The parent xSinvana ‘Mount Magazine’ is an intergeneric hybrid between Sinningia conspicua and Paliavana tenuiflora.  This was registered with the Gesneriad Society in 2006 by Jon Lindstrom, University of Arkansas.

            ‘Heartland’s Maverick’ may be tetraploid.  The point of bringing up the possibility that it may be tetraploid is that the phenotype (what the plant looks like) could be good.  Physically, tetraploid plants have bigger leaves and the flowers have more substance.  The problem is that the plants are often brittle.

            Plants of ‘Heartland’s Maverick’ have big slipper shaped purple flowers that are cheery.

            Will the non-collector notice it?  Once we have enough supply, the market will be tested.  I like it a lot.  We’ll see if others do too.



How did you know that Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' was a winner?

Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' grown by Bill Price

Story # 9, Part II

            With the rapid-fire spread of information and images on the internet, it’s easy to collect clues about any plant that interests you.  In my previous business, operating as Hunter’s Greenhouse, I evaluated plants to be included in our ‘Plants for Planters’ program.  From the picture of the patio pot, being grown outside in Florida by the hybridizer, Jim Steuerlein, I thought that this Sinningia could be durable.

            Although the picture shown in Part I shows the second year’s big growth, there are pictures of it being grown as a low plant in small pots.  That’s where I started.  Once I had stock plants, I rooted tip cuttings, pinched once to get 2-3 shoots in a 3 ½” pot and sold them in flower.

            S. ‘Prudence Risley’ proved to be a vigorous self-branching plant with multiple red trumpet flowers.

            I had guessed that it was good.  But it’s much better than that.  I was lucky!