October Gessies

Ugh. I don't like this one being so big. It flowered for me once, just one or two flowers, and they were pretty and smelled good, but I don't think it's worth all the room it takes up. Strep 'Rose Scentsation' is only marginally smaller. Maybe they both need to be rehomed... I don't know...

Cape Essence has the most gorgeous blooms in the world, Rain........be patient
They will bloom in giant clusters.......only 4 on this one ...........at any given time you might get 12 or 16 of these giant blooms.

It takes up darn near the whole shelf, though! LOL Does it do well if it's severely cut back?

I don't think I would cut more than half off........I did that today with some..........once she gets some new leaves, you can whack away.........

Mine also grows big... I chop most of my strep leaves all the time.. Gail bought some from me last week and she can tell you some of them were 15 inch long... Those were not as wide as most of mine get before I cut them.... nice looking plant...
Hugs,
Susan

Susan, I planted all of them in pure perlite............was so much easier.........and put them in shoeboxes.......can't wait..............hope it takes them a long time to root (LOL)

Yes ........I almost died when I saw that Susan had to cut them to even make them fit into a gallon zip lock.......she sent enough plant material for 4 orders and then some..........and I planted all of them...........that is why they need to take a long time to make babies.............

forgot to show you the three blooms today from Goldleaf's cross.........wish she could see them.........I sent the pics to DT but someone said that he won't think they are any good because he likes his own........maybe he will be merciful with me (LOL)

next one doesn't have a yellow throat like all the rest..........but she is a hot magenta color

Now I have a pink one appear.......she isn't totally open yet and the plant is so small.......

Wow,Rain and Gail!! Loving those pictures ^_^.
I don't think I have ever tried growing a Phinastema,even back in the 70's and 80's when I grew a lot of things from seed.

I'm not sure where to post this,but lots of people have asked about Tommie.She is doing great and working on a new greenhouse!!

With her permission,here is a picture of her adorable little Alex.

Lynn

Oh Lynn,
Alex is beautiful... How old is he... what a cutie... better looking then the streps.... ^_^
Hugs
Susan

He is Alexander Winston Titus....such a big name for such a little thing LOL.I think Tommie said he was born July 16th.......I could be off a day or two.

I,m not sure why the picture came out so small.Too tired to worry about it tonight!!

This message was edited Oct 5, 2009 10:47 PM

He's a handsome little fellow!

What an adorable baby!! Winston is my ex-husband's name........that would be called, "Too much information, Gail"

cute little guy

He is a cutie.
Tommy is busy with a new greenhouse project and putting in a new stove.I just wanted to let everyone know she is fine.

HI everyone ^_^ Lynn shamed me for not stopping by (just kidding) It has been one wild and crazy summer here. As she told you we are in the midst of a greenhouse renovation. We are enlarging the greenhouse and adding a utility room at one end. I will have eventually a gigantic light stand for all my gessies and my seed trays in the utility portion as well as a 22' bench for my other pursuits. We are planning on also doing a passive solar set up to help with the heating. Here is a photo of two sinningias that were a very generous gift from Gail--they are absolutely gorgeous!!! They are a little lanky as I have had to grow them in natural light since my plant stands are still full. I put all my Kohlerias out in the greenhouse this summer and after I got the grasshoppers to quit eating them they went gangbusters. I also went bonkers and composted most of my episcias (told you it has been a crazy summer). I just bought an antique cookstove and my nephew (who is also doing the greenhouse) just finished installing it for me. we hope to have the exterior of the GH done this weekend--just in time since they are predicting temps int the upper 30° range. So I will be busy getting everything in--but will try to stop by more often.
tommie

ohhh lucky you, they are real beauties.
mrsbonnie

Welcome back Gran LOL!!

Gran..........good to see you back and hope to see more of you this winter when it is too cold for you to be working outside (LOL)

I have fallen in love with Russian Streps............really in love, Jim.........might start competing with the streps?????????

I am too tired to look up their Russian names but here are a couple and then I am going to get might close to a very early bedtime............long day..........good day.........but long.

I can spell this one.......Ian Minuet

What gorgeous photos! Mine are not so good but here they are:)

This one is Episcia Pink Panther..

and finally a couple of Kohlerias!

Pat

no, here they are, LOL!

Gail,
It might be time to go to bed.Those look like violets (just teasing ^_^).

zozzi,
Your plants look great!!

Thanks.......lynn..........do 'ya think I have streps on my mind (LOL)

Loving your pics, zozzl!!

Zozzl, let me know if you ever want to trade your kohlerias for av's or steps! Perhaps in the Spring?

those are gorgeous and I've always liked them. As a matter I fact, never met a gessie I didn't like. LOL

Hey GrowHappy,

That sounds really good. I will be starting some cuttings and will probably have quite a few different ones in the spring. Also, I am collecting chirita, sinningia and unusual gessies so who knows what I will have, LOL!

Wish I knew how you guys get such good photos. Mine either looked washed out or blurry. Thanks for the compliments!

Pat

Ohhhhh Gail!!! Look what I have finally done!! A friend gave me these about a month ago because she couldn't do anything with them. My luck with strepies is not very good but look here!!

Bristol's Boo Boo

Pat don't feel bad. I had to take about 5 pictures to get these and they're still awful!!

Here is another:

Bristol's Daisy Doodle

Amy, look at this!!

Chirita Stardust

Chirita experts!!: I can't remember what I did with the Chirita dreamtime leaf I propagated. Are those babies above one plant or is each one a new plant like streps?

This is the first chirita I have ever rooted. It looks like to me it's more than one plant. But I could be very wrong. I'm sure that someone will come along and tell us. I was shocked as to how fast it rooted!

How exciting, Melanie! My chirta leaves usually just put out one plant per leaf. They do root easily and can almost be neglected with very little water.............I am NOT an expert with chiritas.....but they are fun to grow.

I have grown them in the past ....let me see if I can find a picture of one.
Here is Chirita 'Dream Time' before I got a decent camera.

You're doing awesome, Melanie! Blooming Streps, Chirita babies... You're on a roll! ^_^

Talking about pictures, if you'll notice, a lot of people's pictures have the bloom blurry, but the plant itself is in focus. That tells me the camera is too close to the bloom. Try backing away from the bloom a bit and see if that helps. I've got a macro setting on my camera and I still can't get right up on the bloom to take the picture. It's gotta have a little room. LOL I hope that helps. ^_^

GH, it's potentially more than one Chirita baby. They can put up more than one. If you let them grow long enough, it's easy to tell how many babies there are as you're separating them. It looks like that one has one nice sized baby right in the middle forming a nice little rosette. Looks like there might be a smaller baby coming up just above and to the left of that one. Is that the way it looks to you, Melanie?

I just took a closer look....it's three!! There is one coming up directly behind the big leaf and yes one to the left of the big leaf.

Great job of taking care of those babies Mega... Keep it up and you will be a pro.... ^_^ I got a few chirita leaves from someone I can't remember and I gave all my away a long time ago... Well put the leaves down and they are growing... So I guess i have chiritas now...LOL
Hugs,
Susan

meag,
Your plants look great.You are doing a fine job!!

Rain,
For me some Chiritas look like they are only putting up one baby,but when they get bigger sometimes another pops up.

Susan,
Those Chiritas can get pretty big....LOL.

I know Lynn, I use to grow them....LOLOLOLOL
Hugs,
Susan