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Showing posts from August, 2024

Drymonia variegata

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Drymonia variegata is an attractive, vining plant that I enjoyed growing the plant many years ago and was excited to acquire a small plant last spring. I restarted that plant with a small cutting, which quickly rooted.  The species is native to Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. It is found on wet environments. I grow it in long-fiber sphagnum moss, enclosed in an aquarium / terrarium, under a shaded LED bulb. It is joined there by other humidity-loving plants such as Neomortonia rosea, Nautilocalyx pemphidius, Nautilocalyx pictus 'Jade'. Drymonia variegata The dark green foliage with silver "pine tree" markings makes for a stunning display on their own. I don't recall ever blooming Drymonia variegata in the past. I was surprised when I noticed a bud on the plant a month ago. Watching it intensely didn't seem to speed up the opening! As luck would have it, I was out of town for the weekend when the first bloom opened. Fortunately, my wife grabbed a few pictures...

Gloxinia erinoides 'Red Satin'

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Gloxinia erinoides 'Red Satin' is an easy to grow plant which is ideal for small spaces. The species is found in northern South America and Central America. The 'Red Satin' variety has small white dots on the dark green foliage with the small flowers held above the plant on red inflorescences. Gloxinia erinoides was formerly called Koellikeria erinoides before a revision of the Gloxinia. Gloxinia erinoides 'Red Satin' I grew this plant from seed obtained from The Gesneriad Society seed fund, which I sowed in February of this year. The seed germinated quickly, and I potted up two groups of seedlings into 3" pots in June. By early July the plants were putting out the stalks of diminutive flowers. The display is quite attractive. Gloxinia erinoides 'Red Satin' As an added bonus,  Gloxinia erinoides is one of the few scented gesneriads. Despite their small size, the flowers have a strong scent of coconut, tinged with a touch of vanilla. Although o...

Gesneriads at the Missouri Botanical Garden

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One of the field trips during the Gesneriad Society convention in July was a visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden, including a tour through the Climatron. Josh Higgins, a garden employee and gesneriad enthusiast gave us a tour during which he pointed out the many gesneriads hiding among the plants throughout the glasshouse.  The Climatron Moussonia deppeana was the first gesneriad spotted. The small shrub is found from Mexico to Guatemala. The attractive foliage tinted by red hairs stood out amount the greenery. Alas, no blooms were seen. Mousonnia deppeana I spotted Drymonia chiribogana from a distance. The large distinctively-veined leaves make it easy to see. This Ecuadorian native is easy to grow. Depsited developing into a tall plant, it blooms easily under lights. I find the bloom trend to be at the base of the planet so it can be kept manageable with pruning.  Drymonia chiribogana Flowering plants of Primulina tatiana were seen growing in the understory at several ...