Psychedelic Gloxinina

Gloxinias used to be more common.  Now they are somewhat hard to find.  There are no sources for the tubers, and you used to be able to get them in most any garden center.  Once in a while, you can find seed-grown plants, and you can order small plants from gesneriad dealers on the internet.

This one is Sinningia 'Bristol's Watermelon Whip'.  I got the plant last fall from The Violet Barn and I've grown it under my plant lights through the winter and spring.  It grew, but did not really grow rapidly until most of the plants moved out for the season and it got put near the south facing window with all the other gesneriads.  I did give it a shot of fertilizer, and that may have been the trigger along with more natural sunlight.  Anyway, it's been spectacular.  I seem to be attracted to plants with petals that have islands of pigment saturation surrounded by lighter areas and dark spots in the throat like this.  I've always been a foxglove fan for that reason.  No two flowers have identical patterns.

Vivaparous and Vivacious Cactus

I love it when little plants that are easily overlooked suddenly shout out and make themselves known.  Spinystar, Escobaria vivipara (syn. Coryphantha vivipara) could be heard loud and clear last week.  We collected this single plant at Railroad Buttes in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in May of 2010.  It was a rainy year, and thick white gumbo clay made foot travel laborious, slippery, and frustrating.  We collected about four inches of it on our shoes in the process of collecting the plants we did.  This is one of the treasures that made fighting the sticky clay worthwhile.

True to its name, it is making a large number of little cactusettes around the lower part of its spherical body.  Brad has already rooted them and we will be able to have a significant planting of this species before too long.  It may be a great candidate for green roof gardening, too.  I had never had the pleasure of noting its fragrance, but it has a very nice heavy, musky aroma.  The contrast of the soft pink petals, bright orange stamens, and white stigma is nice.