2024 Gesneriad Society Flower Show Entries

The 2024 Gesneriad Society Convention, at the beginning of this month in St. Louis, MO, was just the second convention we attended in 20 years. I decided to enter a few plants in the flower show since we were driving to the event. I actually packed eleven plants for the 810 mile trip. It's been a long time since we travelled with plants, and I was unsure of how to safely travel with the plants. I ended up doing a lot of cutting and taping to put together some suitable cardboard boxes. I also packed some plants in coolers. The plants were secured with a combination of rolled up towels and shredded paper. 

Sorting prior to packing

For the most part, the plants traveled well, even with unloading and reloading the car for the overnight hotel stay in Frankfort, KY. Upon arriving in St. Louis the plants were unpacked and spread out in the room. An Achimenes plant had dropped most of its flowers, with few buds showing colors. I later joked that there should be an Artistic class in the show called "Traveling With Plants." The requirements would include a focus on fallen flowers and broken leaves. After a couple days of grooming, whenever I had a break in the scheduled activities, I ultimately chose five plants to enter in the flower show.

Overnight in the hotel

Aeschynanthus humilis was the plant I was most excited about. The 4" pot had been blooming consistently for months, and had a fairly nice shape. This plant scored 94 points and was awarded a red ribbon. The judges noted it was very floriferous but also commented on some spent blooms. The blue ribbon plant in the class was a stunning Aeschynanthus humilis 'Topaz'. 

Aeschynanthus humilis

Alsobia dianthiflora was another plant I'd been watching for some time as a possible show entry. I had been grooming the trailing plant consistently for a couple months. It had been blooming in and off, and I debated between entering it as a blooming plant or one grown for foliage. On the day of entries there were just 3 or 4 blooms showing color but I decided on the blooming class. I exhibited the plant propped on a painted coffee can. The plant also scored 94 points and was awarded a red ribbon as well in the competitive scoring used by the Gesneriad Society. The judges commented the plant was extremely well-grown but lacked even distribution of flowers.

Alsobia dianthiflora

I had debated a long time over entering the Nautilocalyx glandulifer. I thought it was an extremely attractive foliage plant. At the same time, many of the leaves had minor browning on the edges. In addition, some older leaves had some burning from the months spent trying to find the right place under the lights. The judges did indeed comment on leaf tip damage. They also liked the ornamental value of the reddish hairs. They also made note of the paper dust on the leaves. That dust was missed in the pre-entry grooming, likely due to the poor hotel room lighting, In the show room, the dust was very apparent even to me. The plant scored 81 points and received a yellow ribbon.

Nautilocalyx glandulifer

Michaelmoelleria vietnamensis was a "late decision" entry. This was a popular plant in last year's plant sales room, and indeed there were several entries in the show. My plant had just a few blooms at entry time. Given the flowers are very short-lived, they were removed and the plant was entered in a foliage class. The judges found the plant to be a not fully developed show specimen. They commented it would have been better to have been "potted up a few months earlier." That was an interesting comment in that the plant had been in the same pot since September of last year. I suspect the fresh layer of decorative long fiber sphagnum moss contributed to that impression of a freshly potted speciman. I do agree that the plant would be better more fully developed. I am looking forward to letting the stems growing longer and created a more interesting effect. The plant score 91 points and was awarded a yellow ribbon.

Michaelmoelleria vietnamensis 

The final plant I entered was Petrocosmea nervosa. This little plant has been blooming for several months.  A few months before the show I removed a couple rows of older leaves, leaving a plant that looked somewhat asymmetrical as first. Gradually training some of the leaves left a nicer plant that laid flat against the rim of the pot. In truth I was surprised how well the plant faired in the show. It scored 98 points, earning a blue ribbon and Best in Class. (It was the only plant in the class surprisingly.) The judges commented that it was nice to see the plant in bloom "at this time of the year." 

Petrocosmea nervosa 

I was pleased, and more than a little surprised, how well my entries were judged. Especially given I didn't recall much about flower show judging after two decades of not participating. I had not been growing specifically for show, and had not purposefully timed the plants to peak at show time.

I learned I need to pay more attention to pre-entry grooming. Packing the plants with shredded paper was also probably not the best idea. It creates a lot of paper dust. I'm also still finding bits of shredded paper in my plant room two weeks after packing the plants! Making earlier decisions on what plants would be selected to lessen the burden of packing and travel.

Fortunately, all but one of the eleven plants made it back home successfully. One pot of Achimenes dried out during the trip home. As I had another pot of the same plant doing well, the dried out plant was disposed of. The plants left unattended at home for the week faired quite well. They were all well-watered before we left, and most are on wicks. That success was a relief as this was the first long trip we've done without a "plant sitter" since I've gotten back into growing gesneriads early last year.