January Pictures and Chit Chat

Oh my. That O. Harlequin is a beauty. I'll have to add that one to my list.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2012 3:18 PM

This lovely one is AV Kermit

And a full plant shot

My first chimera bloom. AV Dale's Dream

Full shot of AV Dale's Dream

And here is AV Rob's Sasparilla

It is almost in full bloom. It looks like a bridal bouquet in miniature

I also like Rebel's Crested Robin and Kermit. They are both added to my list too!!!

And finally my first Sinningia blooming. It is Maiden's Blush

And just because people tell me that I can't grow these here. These are 5 of my 7 cyclamens. The other two are on the AV rack.

Roly, your cyclamen are beautiful. I had two, but lost them to cyclemen mites. After that I was afraid to try them again because of the miltes.

Rolando,
Your plants are just gorgeous! What beautiful Cyclamens!
Lynn

Gorgeous!!! I love the white sinningia and the cyclamens. What do you do to grow those and prevent/treat for mites?
Jamie

Thank you all for your comments. I will try to root some leaves. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully have some plantlets to share. The cyclamens are all kept on their own plate of water. Right now I don't have any problems with mites and I'll keep my fingers crossed that I won't have to deal with them. In any case what would you treat both cyclamens and african violets for mines and mealy bugs??? Given the case that I grow them inside my room.

Wow, Rolando! Those Violets are gorgeous!

Although I don't like Cyclamen, your plants are wonderfully grown! What do you do to keep them cool enough to be looking like that in Southern Florida of all places?

Of course, my favorite is the Sinningia. What a cute, little thing! :)

I love Cyclamen. We can grow them in Texas in the winter. They look great outside planted in groups.

I learned that if I keep my room at 72 degrees and the cyclamens under lights they grow and bloom throughout the entire year. The violets do not mind at all since they are closer to the windows and it stays warmer. As you can see they are growing beautifully.

beautiful, just beautiful plants.

What a great way to start the new year with amazing flowers, it means the rest of the year will be filled with blooms, joy and thrills. Awesome job everyone! Lovely cyclamens, I think I'm falling in love with them and started to look for the seeds already, they are said to be pretty easy, we'll see. I'm getting some buds coming so hopefully my camera will be busy soon, hehe

Thanks for the pictures, keep them going!

I use granular Bonide in the soil to help prevent mites and mealies. I think I want to grow cyclamens from seed now too. That's a great way to avoid the mites.

And there are some cool Cyclamen species out there as well... Just saying... LOL

Anyhow, back to the subject. Here's a mixed box of Gesneriads (Well, and one Cissus...)

I think your house is in full bloom, Rolando! You have some real beauties there. Speaking of cyclamen...I was visiting a lady this summer and she had a cyclamen sitting in her window. The blooms were spent but she still had nice foliage. I complimented her on the plant, calling it a cyclamen. She said that it wasn't a cyclamen, it was as African Violet. The *&%&*^% local florist told her that it was and A.V. and I couldn't tell her any different. That is so sad. This florist has also misinformed others on different plants she had sold. Ya think she would at least know what plants she sells HA!!

Connie

guess that lady should Google both plants, ha

Bought another Cyclamen 2 weeks ago, lets see if I can keep THIS one alive. Mine usualy die when they go dormant and never come back. I think I'll keep trying to avoid dormancy this time. I' kill those like I kill Phal. orchids.

Again thank you all for your kind comments. I am a very happy gardener. Tommy the secret for me has been lots of light and always keep it watered. I water from the bottom just like I do with the african violets. Also I keep the temperature constant at 72 during the day going down to 67 at night. Mines haven't gone dormant and the oldest I've had for 9 months now and it send flushes of blooms followed by new leaves followed by more blooms.

Thanks I'll try that this time!

Again: I don't like Cyclamen but my mother had "The Secret Recipe" and kept hers going for years and years, with or without dormancy.

The key is, as Rolando said, to keep the temperatures quite low. They are extremely sensitive to heat and will start yellowing and go dormant or die if it gets too hot.

My mother always put them in the coolest window in the house and kept moving them around as the seasons changed, always trying to keep them as cool as possible.

In Summer, she moved them outdoors to a cool, moist, sheltered spot and brought them back inside in Fall.

Keeping the soil moist will also help the roots to stay cool.

Looking over the memories that I just wrote down, that actually sounds pretty much like the growing conditions that quite a few of the Strep-species require...

Olaf

Here's another seedling of Sinningia 'Country Bumpkin' x 'HCY's Fairy Weather'. I really like this one so far but the colors aren't completely finished developing in this first flower and the other seedlings have proven to be anything but stable...

Oh my, if she keeps that color combination for you she'll be a very special and unique beauty, yellow tones are so unusual. Awesome!

Thanks Maria!

It's actually more green than yellow but there's still hope since the flower isn't quite done with its coloration, yet...

Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that the subsequent flowers will be like that or better... :)

Olaf

I like it too. Yep, keeping my fingers crossed for ya :) I have been repotting and setting some leaves of some A.V.s. I am amazed at the size of my Kei Yoki blooms with such a small plant. The bloom stalks won't hold them up and the plant is covered with blooms.

Connie

Here is a pic of my Anthoflores Barnabe just starting to bloom :)

Connie

Beautiful Sis!

Olaf,yellow or green is still very striking.

Lynn

Olaf, whatever the colors, it is still very pretty. My fingers are crossed for you. Hope it goes the way you want.
Connie. those two violets are gorgeous. I especially like Kei Yok with its ruffled edges. Anthoflores Barnabe is dainty looking.

Thanks everyone! :)

Connie, I love both your Violets but that second one, 'Anthoflores Barnabe' is STUNNING! Wow!

Does anybody know a mini or maybe a smaller semi with similar flowers? I'm totally illiterate when it comes to AV-cultivar-names... .

Olaf

Olaf, that is the prettiest mini Sinningia that I have ever seen. You have a real winner there. I so hope it will be stable, my fingers are crossed.
Connie, those are stunner blooms!

Here is a group of spares that I planted together about a year ago. It's putting on a lovely show for me now. I'm sorry my camera looks so foggy.

Side view. I had put them into an old chip n' dip tray.

Foggy or not, that quite a display there, Jamie! Beautiful!!! :)

Any strikes, yet?

Olaf

Jamie, they are so cute. What are the ones with the variegated leaves? I love them.