Sinningia 'Paper Moon'

Sinningia 'Paper Moon' is an older hybrid by John Boggan. I acquired a small plant at the 2023 Gesneriad Society Convention plant sale.

'Paper Moon' is one of the "oldie but goodie" hybrids I have been focusing on reacquiring. It's an interesting cross of the diminutive S. pusilla ‘White Sprite’ and the tall growing S. schiffneri. The plant does not seem to form a tuber and essentially ever-blooming.

Rooted cutting, October 2023

When the new plant arrived home, I reduced it to a single pinched cutting to be rerooted before adding to the collection. The cutting was put in a 3" pot. It grew fast and started blooming again within a few weeks, and has been everblooming since. While it can develop a somewhat messy appearance if the numerous spent blooms are not consistently removed, a well-maintained plant puts on a nice display.

I took the plant to "show and tell" at a recent meeting of the National Capital Chapter of the Gesneriad Society. It was well-received, despited the limited grooming. 

April 2024

I decided to enter the plant in the 2024 Gesneriad Society convention flower show. After packing all the show plants for travel, I was taking pictures of the packed plants for reference in repacking after the show. Alas, I dropped my phone on the plant and broke the delicate stems off one full side of the plant. The most frustrating part was the all the time over the prior week I had spent tediously removing the spent blossoms. At least I had plenty of cuttings now to root for sharing.

Interestingly, less than a month later the plant is well on its way to filling out once again. Perhaps I can keep up with the grooming it grows.