Will Sinningia 'Magic Moment' make the cut?, Part II

Sinningia 'Magic Moment' - First flowers - Grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 18, Part II,


Will Sinningia ‘Magic Moment’ make the cut?

      This picture is the first flowering of Sinningia ‘Magic Moment’.  The rooted cutting from Ben Paternoster grew quickly and flowered on a short plant.


      So far, so good.

Anticipation!

Sinningia 'Kristobel' with first buds!



Story # 31,


      Anticipation!

      There is excitement when you see a plant flower for the first time.  Hybridizing plants is the ultimate game of anticipating that first flower because it is truly unknown what it will look like.


      The case of Sinningia ‘Kristobel’ is half way there.  Although not common, a few people have seen it flower and we have a picture of a well grown plant.  The anticipation here is seeing how plantlets grown from tissue culture will turn out.  So far they are budding on short young plants.  If the bud count continues to build as it grows, it is going to be a spectacular plant.


      You can anticipate that I will show the progress of S. ‘Kristobel’.


      Check in occasionally.

Sinningia 'Paper Moon' is coming back!

Sinningia 'Paper Moon' grown by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 28,


      Sinningia ‘Paper Moon’ is coming back!


      Actually, ‘Paper Moon’ was never here in the first place.


      This hybrid Sinningia selected by John Boggan is a cross of S. pusilla ’White Sprite’ and the species S. schiffneri.  S. schiffneri is described as getting few flowers, so ‘Paper Moon’ must have gotten all of its flower power from ‘White Sprite’.   I see flower clusters of 6 – 8 flowers per leaf axil.  This should allow for a very long flowering period.


      In most series of promoted plants, white is the weak sister ----you need some but not many.  White Petunias are the staple to go against red Geraniums, but solid white is seldom used.  An exception is made if somehow a gardener learns that white Impatiens are the last color to fade into the evening’s darkness.

 

                Remember ------- Nothing is sold until it has a name and a use!

      S. ‘Paper Moon’ has a main stem with the flowers coming out from under the canopy of leaves.  It is a cute little plant that may find its place in Table Top Gardens, planted with more shocking colors.

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?

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 'Kristobel' ----- Just because...

Sinningia 'Kristobel' grown by Ruth Coulson-- Australia

     

Story # 20,

            Sinningia ‘Kristobel’ ------ Just because it’s from the other side of the world doesn’t mean it’s any good.

            There is an impression that if a product is imported from afar it must be better, why else go to the trouble.  Sinningia ‘Kristobel’ was hybridized by John Nedwich in Australia and found its way to the U.S. in the hobby world.

            The picture is of the plant grown by Ruth Coulson, an advanced hobbyist and also a hybridizer of Sinningias.  I was fortunate to meet Ruth when she came half way around the world to the Gesneriad convention in Philadelphia in July 2011.  I offered to take her to Longwood Gardens as part of her site-seeing and had the chance to talk Gesneriads with her.  Somewhere in there we talked about this ‘Kristobel’ which she had grown so well for a show at home.

            It evolved that I got my original tuber of ‘Kristobel’ from Dale Martens who was growing it from plant material supplied by Ruth previously.

            Based on a picture and Ruth’s recommendation, I shipped it to be produced by tissue culture without actually seeing the plant myself.  Once we have quantities of this mid-sized Sinningia with terminal clusters of rosy flowers, will this gamble pay off?

            I should have S. ‘Kristobel’ in flower for sale in 8 – 12 weeks.

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…….