Smithiantha ‘ Big Dots Rule ’
This summer I decided to acquire a number of more unusual Gesneriads , all phallus of Gesneriaceae , the family which includes African Violets and Streptocarpus . Although I am not addicted yet , I did put in a numeral of specie and hybirds , including this SMithiantha hybrid called ‘ Big Dots Rule ’ . In improver to this , you could see in some other containers in the back , the alpine form of Petrocosmea , with thier prissy , neat , uniform flat stem canker , and some others specie , of which , I would need to pull the labels out of the containers so that I could remember them . In the greenhouse , I also planted about 35 pots of Achemenes , as I evidence in an earlier post . These little rhyzotomous industrial plant all bask the same ethnical requirements , and although not an expert , I did learn from some memebers of the Gesneriad Society , and from connection research , that most of these are summer growing , winter abeyant plants which favor never to dry out , and like thier antecedent coolheaded . I have all of my pots of Smithiantha and Achemenes in the greenhouse , where there is shade material protecting them from the hot sun , and glass overhead , so that they do n’t get rained on , but the foliage is still a little spotted , because I was lazy some days with the hose , and so much Methedrine is break , a footling moisture flatten on the leaves .
I am not certain if water on the leafage is even a adult sight , since somedays , in the good afternoon when it is raging , I spray them all down with fresh water , much as I do my African Violets in the sink . As long as they have time to dry before nightfall , I rarely have a porblem , and visitant cite how decent the leaf looks . In the greenhouse , I have not been so measured , and to be honest , this is just an experimentation , to see if first of all , I can grow these plants .
The African Violet relative , Smithiantha ‘ Big Dots Rule ’ , in my industrial plant window . I moved a few into glass containers and bring them into the firm , I planted sail moss , which grow on the creation inside the glasshouse , and place it under the leaves , and used some vintage bell jars to create a humid surroundings . Oh yeah , and a consignment of skillful Guy Wolff pots which came mistakenly with the dish antenna attached , and thus , useless in the bulb house , are make nice indoor displays for these gesneriads .
In the next few weeks , I think you will all see more of these plants on this blog , since they are just starting to bud and efflorescence . It is fun strike a new flora , and most of these are familiar through pictures , and a childhood of reading the Park Seed catalogue , which often featured Achemenes , but I never tried to grow them . set out with more than 30 , is a little playfulness , since I can see many differences and nuances between the species and hybrids . The Smithanthas I really care , and I will order more next leaping . So far , the Achemenes are not thrilling me . OF note : Smithianthas are a genus named after Matilda Smith ( 1884 – 1922 ) , she was Sir Joseph Hookers second cousin , and clearly a lovely ( and cheerful ) lady . Her name immortalized many plants because the painted them for the journals and Explorer of the time . ( Hooker , head of Kew in that era , and a well known plant explorer from the Mutany on the Bounty days of Kew ) . She later became a well known botanic illustrator for the horticultural journal , Curtis Botanical Magazine , which is still published today , and worth getting if you could give it . ( google Blackwell Publishing in the commonwealth ) . The plates still trade on ebay , and the cartridge holder is deserving the 75 US dollar for the four issues .
develop Smithianthas in a unspoilt , organic , well drained soil , much like that one would employ for African Violets . Never lease them dry out out , keep them cool , perhaps indoors or on an protect patio where they do not get sun in the summer . These are primarily summer growers , and will start to go torpid after they bloom , between Sept and Dec. They have purportedly fiddling rhyzomes , yet I regularize my flora from Kartuz Greenhouses , Kartuz.com . Order in the give or early summer . Worth trying for that lilliputian something that your neighbors and friends will not encounter at your local supermarket , yet , just as easy as any houseplant . effective of all , they blossom at a clock time when picayune beyond mom and dahlias excite the senses .
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