Primulinas have longevity

Primulina yungfuensis grown by Bill Price

            Since I’ve been trying to build the case that Primulina will become a common foliage houseplant, it is nice to see this picture of an old plant getting ready to flower again.  This is Primulina yungfuensis grown by Bill Price which is now 10” in diameter.

            Asian Violets survive drought without harm, take sun or shade and can tolerate hot or cold.

            Now we can say that they can live for years and will flower when big and old.

Fairy Gardens Trending Up!

Asian Tray Garden by Gary's Specialty Plants

            From the trade magazine, Greenhouse Manager, there is a very valuable report by Carol Miller on April 4, 2016.  She has used Google Trends to create a graph of selected terms.  By searching for “Fairy Gardens”, the graph shows (the blue line) that interest in the subject has continued to increase since 2012 and 2016 will be the highest ever.

Fairy Garden Trend - Blue Line

            For the source, go to:   http://www.greenhousegrower.com/retailing/fairy-gardens-vs-container-gardens-more-insights-into-whats-most-popular-in-google-searches/3/

Quoting from the source:

"This graph has a lot to say. First, “hanging baskets,” instead of declining as a search term as baby boomers get older, is only getting more and more popular. Although “container gardens” was a competitive term in 2005, “hanging baskets” have increased in frequency while “container gardens” has declined sharply.

If you thought fairy gardens peaked in popularity somewhere around 2012, if search terms are any measure, this graph shows otherwise. “Fairy gardens” did not really begin registering as a search term until that year, and has grown every year since. It’s on track to reach its most popular level yet in 2016."

            I ask everyone in this niche market what their opinion is about the Fairy Garden/Miniature Garden trend.  Those involved feel like it has lost its newness and may be leveling out.  This may be wrong.  This data from the general population shows that they are just now finding out about Fairy Gardens and are searching for information on the internet.

            Our sales of ‘Mini’ plants have doubled each year for five years.  I get one to two inquires per week from Garden Centers who have found me by seeing my plants at other stores.  Of the Garden Centers who have a ‘Small Plant’ department, all continue to stock our plants.  No one has abandoned Miniature Gardens.

            The facts are:  Fairy Gardens --- Trending up !

The Good Ole Days, OT

Buttermilk Junction, Martin County, Indiana, April 1937

            We all like to think that the good old days were better.

            Would you like to be progressing toward the life shown here?

            Through free market capitalism, human ingenuity and just striving for a better standard of living, life is better.

Do you know any cats? , OT

Maurice Sendak

                     If this doesn’t make you smile, you don’t know any cats!

Who needs flowers?

Primulina yungfuensis grown by Drew Norris, Picture by Jim Roberts

Who needs flowers?

            Primulina yungfuensis is a distinctively different Asian Violet.  It has patterned variegation that makes it stand out.  So far it has only been shown in Gesneriad flower shows by hobbyists who are lucky enough to have one.

            I had speculated that it should be spread far and wide even before I had one.  I have about 20 small plants now from leaves shared by Arlene Dewell, Jim Roberts and Drew Norris.

            The leaves rooted quickly and produced multiple plantlets.  The patterned foliage shows immediately making interesting leaves at any size.

            This Primulina species could be a commercial foliage plant, unless it has some fatal flaw that is not apparent yet.

            From the show plants, we know that it can be grown as a specimen with many leaves before it flowers.  It can be a houseplant for your windowsill equivalent to Calathea, Agleonema or Dieffenbachia which are grown for their foliage. Maybe a more believable comparison is to the decorative foliage of a mini Cyclamen before it is covered by flowers.   Asian Violets survive drought without harm, take sun or shade and can tolerate hot or cold.

            We will need a variety name for this species if there is any hope of it being talked about.  Primulina yungfuensis will never flow off your tongue.  What should it be?

            Eventually the blue flowers will show up.  But we don’t need them for Primulina yungfuensis to be a successful indoor plant.

Will it happen again?

Blue Job's Tears  - Perfect for your windowsill  !

Will it happen again?

            Last year  in 2015, the week after Easter was the biggest sales week for the year.  Why did that happen?  There were four times the normal individual wholesale orders.

            Possible reasons are:

          There is retail space available after the Easter plants are gone.

.         It’s Spring and it’s time to get inventory of small plants.

           Finally, with Spring getting gardeners excited about plants and planting, there are many more people in the store.  Some of them will see and want small houseplants for their windowsill.

     It was just a random event.

 Nobody knows.

            We will know about this year’s big week after Easter soon.

Delaware AVS and Gesneriad Society Display and Sale

Primulina 'Loki'  for sale

Once again, Boscov’s will host the Delaware chapter’s annual Palm Sunday weekend extravaganza.

This year we’ll have an exhibit, sale and a few short workshop lectures.  With setup on Friday morning, we’ll be ready for the public by 12 noon on Friday. The event closes at 4 PM on Saturday. For those using a GPS, the address is 361 West Main Street, Christiana, DE. And we’re up on the second floor.

The plant sale promises to be something really special with plants from Gary’s Specialty Plants, Fancy Bloomers and some pretty unusual member grown plants. I know for a fact, we’ll have micro sinningias, some drymonias, some streptocarpellas, some sinningia hybrids and more.

Hope to see you there.

Mary Schaeffer