1/2 Year!

Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn'  looking very good.

½ Year!


      This blog was started 6 months ago.


      Anybody that tells you that it is easy probably isn’t writing theirs alone.


      I’ve read that most blogs stop at nine months.  We’ll see.

Sinningia 'Party Dress' --Will it follow 'Gabriel's Horn' into the Fairy Gardens?

Sinningia 'Party Dress' hybridized and grown by Thad Scaggs

Story # 25,


      Sinningia ‘Party Dress’ – Will it follow ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ into the Fairy Gardens?


      There are many named varieties of Sinningia flowers with the whirling flair of a party dress.


      Thad Scaggs, dedicated hybridizer of Sinningias and other Gesneriads, has shown his creations and selected a pink one to be the one and only ‘Party Dress’.  Thad has others, also, with names like ‘Florida Floozie’ and ‘Diva’.


      The double-calyx flowers are very unique and the extra outside petals appear to float around the center corolla.  The flowers have size and their weight cause them to droop down.  This gives the party dress look.


      So far production is limited to rooting tip cuttings.


      Will there be a series of ‘Party Dress’- type Sinningias produced in the future?

Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn' -- Coming soon to your Fairy Garden!

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

 Story # 24,


      Sinningia ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ ----coming soon to your Fairy Garden!


      Sinningia ‘Gabriel’s Horn is worth looking for.  We know that it can get many buds and flowers.  It has double-calyx flowers that look like the pixies have arrived in the Fairy Garden.  The hobby of creating a Fairy Garden looks like fun and has evolved into an extra special niche with miniature landscapes and scenes with tiny furniture and characters.


       I could just declare that ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ is the ultimate plant for your Fairy Garden but that will be up to those of you who spend time thinking about and designing your gardens.  For you Fairy Gardeners, it is highly unlikely that you’ve ever seen a plant like ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ to consider it for your landscape.


      The plant is in collections of Gesneriad growers and shows up in Gesneriad flower shows but has never escaped into Fairy Land due to limited production quantities.


      Small flowering plants of Sinningia ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ will be available for sale at the Longwood Gardens’ plant shop soon.  Watch for the availability announcement in the right hand column.

It's the buds that count!

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

Story # 21,

            It’s the buds that count!

            In selecting Sinningias for commercial production, two things count the most ---- flower color and bud count.

            The number of buds that form when the Sinningia grows to first flowering is a variable inherited characteristic.  There have been named hybrids that have great flowers but very few of them.  With this in mind we only want to pick varieties that have multiple flower buds per peduncle which leads to showy clusters of open flowers.

            Sinningia ‘Gabriel’s Horn’ consistently gets 4 – 6 buds per leaf axil and can build a spectacular show of double calyx flowers.

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.