African Violets and Gesneriads: Daily Photo Share and Chat - Part II, 1 by bmedel

bmedel wrote:
I got off on the strep topic and didn't answer about the petrocosmea. They are not the same as a mini AV Diane. All of these various plants are related and are in the Gesneriads family. They all have their own little personalities but over all I am drawn to them because of the beautiful growth patterns and most especially for the blooms of so many of them.

The Kohlerias (also part of this family) grow from scaly rhizomes and if they are not happy they will die completely back and you think they are goners! :0) But if you continue to water the pot the rhizomes will sprout again and give you a new plant. Maybe that is the one that you were thinking of as temporary? But they're really not as they come back again.

The sinningias grow from a tuber and that tuber will get bigger and bigger and I believe that they too can come back just from the tuber if they die off for some reason. Not positive on that though.........Here is a picture of a sinningia that I'm growing from seed and you can see the little tuber at the base. Fascinating....

~Brenda