Achimenes are coming!

  Achimenes 'Golden Bells' from Serge Saliba - World-class hybridizer - Romania

The Achimenes are coming

 

            Soon there will be new, exciting hybrids from Serge Saliba, world-class hybridizer, who lives in Romania.  He’s a hobbyists turned professional and has Achimenes like you have never seen before. There are all colors, single and double flowers, upright or trailing.

 

            I have negotiated for the North American rights to his amazing assortment of named hybrids.  We will need rapid build up of stock plants to meet the high demand for houseplants and patio plants.

 

            Achimenes were grown and sold commercially 50 years ago.  Then they disappeared.  You can find a few on the internet from specialist mail order sellers.  There are some good, old varieties.

 

            They can be houseplants at a sunny window but do better outside on the porch in planters and hanging baskets.  Morning sun and afternoon shade is the best.  If you can grow Impatiens, you will have success with Achimenes.

 

            Achimenes form rhizomes by Fall at the surface of your pot.  Save them for next year.  You can harvest them and store in plastic bags or just leave them in the pot to resprout in the Spring.

 

            Gardeners always liked Achimenes until the supply went away.

 

            Achimenes are coming back.  Watch for them.

'Big Apple' is waiting for a champion.

 

A. 'Big Apple' -Award winner, DAVS, Oct 7, 2017

           Aeschynanthus ‘Big Apple’ has become an overnight success.  They are available in every garden center, every supermarket plant department and every big box store as plant of the week.

            I’ve missed April Fool’s Day, but it could happen.

            With my discovery that this unknown flowering houseplant is a long-day to flower plant, it can be programmed to flower every week of the year – guaranteed.            

Why won’t it happen?  Because nobody will do it.

There are fewer pot plant growers than there used to be and thus fewer specialist liner producers promoting flowering plants like ‘Big Apple’.

There are a few things to test, like post-harvest reliability --- will the flowers hang on in shipping?

            It will be fun to see if I can flower 200 4” pots of this interesting, unknown hybrid, ‘Big Apple’. 

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UPDATE

This story is four years old.  And still there are none in the garden center.  Which just proves that ideas are easy --- execution is what matters.

I have some stock plants again and will try it.

Watch for more updates.

What will be the common name for Achimenes? --- THE ANSWER!

Achimenes 'Serge Saliba'

              Five weeks ago I wanted to find the new common name for Achimenes.  Today, I’ve given up.

 

            The answer is:

           

Achimenes   ---   ah-KIM-eh-neez

 

After talking to a lot of smart people, they all say that all current common names are stupid and should not be used.  I won’t write them here to help cause them to disappear.

 

A common name for a plant helps gardeners remember it, so they can discuss it with others. And more importantly, they will ask for them at a garden center.   Botanical names are difficult and only make sense if you can pronounce them.

 

Achimenes can be called Achimenes.  Once you learn it, Achimenes will be common.

How many flowers?

Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' - First Flowers

 

More flowers - 10 days later


How many flowers do we need to make you want to buy 'Prudence Risley'?

What will be the common name for Achimenes?

                                 Achimenes 'Red Elf' grown by Ron Myhr, Aug, 2021

What will the common name be for Achimenes?

 

Achimenes               ah-KIM-eh-neez

 

 Achimenes are pretty flowering summer plants not commonly seen.

 

They were a commercial crop about 50 years ago and then disappeared.  Interest in Achimenes continued in the Gesneriad hobby world but seldom anywhere else.

 

With work and luck, they may make a comeback.  I’ve obtained the best-in- the-World hybrids from Romania and will be introducing them to the North American market.

 

Achimenes are long day to flower, so plants started in the spring, will flower through the summer, and go dormant in the fall after making underground rhizomes.

 

Here is the problem.  There is no good common name.  A Google search will give you:

Cupid’s bow, hot water plants, magic flower, monkey faced pansy, Mother’s tears, nut-orchid, Orchid pansy, star of India, widow’s tears.

 

I’ll just jump to the conclusion.  None of these existing common names make any sense nor are any good.

 

The field is wide open.

 

What should the common name be?

 

Purists will want us to learn to say Achimenes {ah-KIM-eh-neez}

 

We practical humans will want an easy memorable common name.  Nobody says:  “Have you seen my Aeschynanthus radicans?”  They say: “Wow. Look at my Lipstick Plant with its red flowers.”

 

With no good established common name for Achimenes, the time is right.

 

What will the common name be?

'Prudence Risley' has passed the test...

                                 Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' bought at Longwood Gardens - 2012

            Plants come and go, and some should stay.

 

            Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley’ has proven itself to be a dependable flowering houseplant and needs to be available to garden centers.  It has red tubular flowers that open in succession on a short branched green plant.

 

            Production could be speeded up with tissue culture turning out thousands, but top cuttings can work if commitment is made to enough stock plants.  Root one tip, cut its top piece for the next crop.  The two to four branches set bud quickly and will flower with a head of bright red flowers to draw attention of indoor gardeners.      ----- A side issue is that it wants to flower so much that it’s hard to keep the shoots vegetative for propagation.

 

            After a long flowering period, the top will die back and look ugly.  A tuber has been forming and will resprout for another round of top growth and flowering --- A very rewarding plant.

 

            My neighbor, Vicky, has her ‘Prudence’ in a big patio container for summer flowering.  She keeps the tuber in the planter over the winter in a cool and dry basement.

 

            ‘Prudence' can be in a small hanging basket at a window so it can get maximum light to keep it short for flowering. 

 

            Even if it must stretch for light it will flower on the trailing stems.  Some people like free form.  I like short and sturdy.

 

            Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley’ has been tested for over 10 years.  It’s pretty and red.

 

            Try one and tell your friends.

                           'Prudence Risley' grown by Jim Steurerlein -Hybridizer

Who wants to tissue culture my plants?

Sinningia 'Colorado Sunset'

        

                                                                                  
 

Who wants to produce my tissue culture plants?

 

            Maybe there is someone out there that wants to propagate my specialty plants with their own tissue culture lab?

 

            The commercial labs that I’ve talked to are too busy with the hundreds of clones that can benefit from this specialized technique.

 

            Specifically, I want someone to give me Stage II unrooted top cuttings of Sinningias.  Stage II is slightly hardened unrooted top shoots that can be shipped to me, and I will root them.  I’ve done this before until my sources disappeared.

 

            Commercial labs mostly have production greenhouses associated with them to grow plantlets to Stage IV, rooted plugs ready for transplant.

 

            But I only need the test tube part of the system.  I’ve not done it, but clever adventurous homeowners have done this in their kitchens.

 

            The serious science is in establishing the correct protocol for the chemicals in the agar.  The formula is known for Sinningias and there are sources for the media.

 

            So, who wants to do it?

 

            Please email me, gary@garysspecialtyplants.com with your plan.  It would be a great service to Horticulture.