Commission me, Part II

Streptocarpus 'Cape Essence'

Story # 34, Part II


Commission me!


      What would it be worth to you to get to have the very first release of a new Streptocarpus or Sinningia?


      Amazon.com sends me e-mails announcing new books for my Kindle. Often I read the reviews and get interested in ordering it, when I finally notice that it won’t be released until some future date.  That usually stops me since I want it now, not next week.  Since they can’t run out of e-book copies, why do I need to reserve one ahead of time?


      Physical goods are different.  There is a finite limit to how many are first available.  When xSinvana ‘Heartland’s Maverick’ first came out of tissue culture and was for sale in flower, did anyone care?


      Everybody likes the new and different.  If I had heard about a new plant, I would try to get it and expect to pay a premium for it.


      If a new plant was commissioned and successfully produced, that would be a very big deal and some people would pay a lot to get the first ones.

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.