Gesneriads

Cozy and beautiful, that's how I think about Gesneriads. When I was living in an apartment in the city, I used to store them in my closed balcony, where it was cold (but not freezing), so I needn't have to water them anymore starting fall.

Once they have developed roots, I take the scissors and snip them into pot sized pieces, and pot them up.Ta Da!!! One nicely rejuvenated Episcia. I use a regular store bought soil and add extra perlite.Water them in well and place somewhere warm and shady.

It might help to know what the rooting system is for your plant to help determine its needs.Fibrous rooted plants grow easily and rapidly and grow year around.Tuberous plants grow dormant if they are stressed or neglected.Gesneriads that are rhizomous,...

Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley' (Sinningia hybrid) Everblooming, long red tubular flowers make this gesneriad outstanding in its class. This hard-to-find gesneriad only requires partial sun and does quite well in a north, east or west window.

Bronze Beauty (Nautilocalyx pemphidus) This rare little gesneriad from Venezuela is ideal for a small space with low light. The pure white blooms stud the deep bronze foliage like sparkling gems.

‘Longwood' never stops flowering. Brilliant strawberry-red flowers with a white throat emerge freely on the upright stems from this Gesneriad. Kohleria ‘Longwood' (Kohleria hybrid) A perfect choice for an east or west window with winter temperatures...

Maintain temperatures above 65°F. Flame violets are delicate plants that need warm temperatures and bright, indirect light to thrive. Episcias are very sensitive to cold weather. They make an ideal light garden or terrarium plant because environmental...

Goldfish Plant ‘Stoplight' (Nematanthus hybrid) ‘Stoplight' is an interesting, new hybrid that produces red flowers that dangle down 8” or more from the outreaching branches and bloom on and off throughout the year.

At least that is what I knew before I heard about the New World names for Gloxinia. I could see the leaves were different, but the flowers seemed so much alike, though they had different colors.

Just make sure that their soil doesn't get soggy during the winter months, or they may meet the same fate as Skipper Ben.The thumbnail Rehmannia elata photo is by EmmaGrace and the Rehmannia elata, white form photo by Michelle Hunziker, both from the...

We northern gardeners long for flowers in winter. But there aren't, we discover, many plants which will bloom happily indoors when sunlight, humidity, and vitality are all running low.

Imagine leaves so lovely that blooms are a bonus... Variegation tends to be variable. Too much light or too much fertilizer may also “green up” a variegated plant. But even the most carefully tended and fertilized African violet won't bloom constantly.

As high-powered grow lights can be expensive and/or expensive to run, I settle for my old faithful fluorescent fixtures. The "benches" for this artificial greenhouse include such available flat surfaces as defunct freezers and an old ping pong table.

I'll never forget the first trailing African violet I saw, cascading from its pot down over the edge of the sales counter at the Carousel of Violets in Winston-Salem. If the stem has leaves below this branch point, your plant is most likely a trailer.are...

National Garden Club Standard Flower Shows offer opportunities to exhibit and compete in many different categories of horticulture and design. This staging provided by the committee, however, does not influence judging.More likely, the exhibitor will...

Some may be slow growers, but I wanted true dwarfs that would never exceed four to six feet in height. Or so I thought. That would have made a pretty boring garden, at that size, with that little variation.

After you have done this, take the new pot and put enough potting soil at the bottom to allow for the additional pot height. At the very least, an African Violet Plants in 4.5″ Pot should be re-potted whenever the plant becomes root bound or once per...