*Such* a fast-moving board...

Doin' the bump.

Starting in the 80's i experimented by moving various gesneriads outdoors. I discovered that nematanthus were quite hardy. Before then, they were regarded as tropical. The Sunset Western Garden Book, the bible of outdoor gardening in the West, still writes them up as tropical indoor plants. But, they survive light dips into the low 30's or even upper 20's, mol. However, our winters go through a long slow cool down, rather than sudden drops from tropical to freezing weather. I found sinningias were mostly hardy, except that exposed portions of tubers will turn to mush in a freeze. If the tubers are buried or well mulched they will take much colder temperatures. Potted plants are much less hardy than those planted out; but epiphytes often don't do well in garden soil, unless the bed is highly ammended with airy organic stuff. Lysionotus are pretty hardy. Some aeschynanthus are quite hardy while others are quite tropical. The hardiest one I have found is A. garrettii, followed by parasiticus, gracilis and micranthus. Many rhizomatous plants will come back--especially Gloxinia sylvatica and achimenes. Yucca Do is a good source, I have heard; but, you can save money by purchasing seed from the Gesneriad Society seed fund, and raising that way. In testing sinningia species it helps to know where they are native and at what elevation. S. curtiflora is hardy but may be hard to flower. I think it wants a big sunny bed where it can spread its network of stoloniferous tubers. Hopefully it will establish as a true perennial, dying down in winter and coming up, with tall spikes of tiny flowers like liatris, but in a color range of orange to reds and pinks. It needs to be experimented with.

John Boggan has been experimenting with many gesneriads in his Washington DC garden. Hopefully he will see this thread and contribute.

Jon

I've left a number of nematanthus and aeschynanthus out, tho' I do throw a sheet or something over them when we have frosts predicted, and have several chiritas that have been out for several years now. Reporting my finding may be less than helpful, tho', since we have been having little or no freezing weather at all the last few years. I keep looking at the seed lists, but while I keep tootin' the gesneriad horn here I know few people who are interested, and I can keep them supplied with cuttings. Seed would mean more plants than I might be able to cope with, tho' the idea there might be only five or six seeds in a packet becomes more tempting. Wish I had a club here (I've tried!) But I really hope more people try these guys. I like things I can just put in the ground and not worry about any more than the rest of the plants out there.

Jon & Greenelbows, I have an unidentified Aeschynanthus someone brought back from the eastern Himalaya, in Rhododendron country (they were supposed to be looking for Rhododendrons--but got distracted by other interesting things). It's sitting among boulders in a west-facing rock garden. No idea what the flower color is yet.

I have Gloxinia nematanthodes on a north-facing slope between boulders. One thing I really like about the hardier Gesneriads is that many of them are suitable for shady rock-gardens, as long as they get enough moisture in the summer.

Mitraria coccinea faces northwest. It is tolerating higher light levels than I would have expected (in Seattle, at latitude 47.5 degrees).

One I have had for a while, that does surprisingly well, is Sinningia 'Tante'. This one wants more sun than typical Gesneriads.

I ordered a Lysionotus but it was a no-show from the grower. Too bad.

The Sinningia and the Gloxinia have long dormancies. The Mitraria and the Aeschynanthus are both evergreen.

ATash, your aeschynanthus sounds really interesting. When plants like this come into cultivation it is important to get them distributed so that they can be identified and so that they stay in cultivation. Are you a member of the local gesneriad chapter, The Puget Sound Gesneriad Society? This is a really good group. I encourage you to join if you are not already a member. This is a huge genus, with over 200 known species, most of which are not in cultivation. They range in habitat from very tropical to high elevation species, capable of withstanding light frosts. So, chances are, that your aeschynanthus is a new one and not a recollection of a species already in cultivation.

The three Chilean gesneriads should all do well for you, though they are hard to cultivate outside of the West Coast. In addition to Mitraria, there is also Sarmienta repens and Asteranthera ovata. A rhododendron nursery in Portland, Ore. carries one or both of these. I can't think of the nursery's name now. By the way, In cultivation, Mitraria comes in several forms. The differences are subtle, but one has more orangy colored flowers while the another is redder.

Lysonotis should not be hard to find. I am sure that members of the local chapter grow some. They are easy from cuttings, and gesneriad chapter members are invariably happy to share. I believe that Kartuz carries several species. L. pauciflorus, aka montanus or warleyense, would be the best garden plant for Seattle, flowering in July-August. L. serratus may also be hardy there. L. ikidae, I don't know about, though it grows outdoors here. It is native to a tiny island between Taiwan and the mainland, so probably isn't subjected to very cold temperatures.

Jon

I've been away from Gardenweb quite some time so I'm just now seeing this.

I have tried several hardy gesneriads in my Washington, DC (zone 7a/b) garden. The hardiest has been Titanotrichum oldhamii, which has reliably overwintered for 4 years and has bloomed every year. Sinningia sellovii and some S. sellovii x S. tubiflora hybrids have overwintered, but came back weakly and didn't bloom. Better drainage and more sun might help. Raphiocarpus petelotii has overwintered at least twice, but comes back weakly and slugs get it just as it's emerging in the spring.

I have not had any Achimenes or Gloxinias overwinter, although some are supposed to be relatively hardy.

I should have said most of the ones I think of as hardy are sinningias. I was hmm--'grimly' amused, I guess, at the comment, I think on the gesneriad list, that plants grown outside aren't really show-worthy. We had some sort of heavy weather here last week, and my S. iarae is pretty damaged--one stem with buds basically destroyed. Don't see much damage on old-reliable S. tubiflora, which has several bloom stems up with flowers about to open. Had to move Seemania purpurescens as it was getting too much sun, and that may have kept it from more damage. Not sure of some names, but I think it's S.'Tante' that got blown over as it's getting tallish, but very little damage. Can't think what else--

Well, it is possible to get show plants out of outdoor grown plants. Of course there are pluses and minuses. I have seen very well grown show plants that had a little of the hard look of an outdoor plant. But at the same time, they were made all the more attractive by their vigorous strong growth and heavy bloom count. It depends on the plant and the climate. In cool foggy San Francisco, streps grown outdoors can turn into incredible flowering specimens, with good foliage as well. I took a Sinningia cochlearis to three shows last summer, that I grew outdoors. But, it wasn't perfect, having experienced some rough weather marks. Being a cool grower, it was a first time experience for many of the people at the AGGS convention. This winter it has been inside, and right now has the most beautiful lush foliage. I will soon have to move it from the greenhouse, as a hot spell will heat it up too much.

So, your comment reminds me of a great story--Gesneriad Society lore of old. At the first AGGS convention in New Orleans, which I missed, someone grew a spectacular Chrysothemis in the garden. It was dug up, potted, and entered in the show. Something unfortunate happened, and at judging time it completely colapsed. But, then later it recovered and was said to be most impressive, if unawarded.

Jon

That formerly-famous Chrysothemis was mine. It just needed water, and it was quite impressive to watch it as it drank it up. You could actually see the stems move upwards and it recovered completely. Didn't think of it as hardy, though--did leave a few in the ground and sometimes they'd come back but often they didn't. Always took at least one indoors for the winter. That one at the show was potted in a large terra cotta bowl that dried out too fast for air-conditioning!

Streptocarpus survive and thrive outdoors here, even with 50 to 100 inches of winter rain.

Sometimes I envy you folks in California. I love streps and have grown them in other climates, but I'd either have to turn the air-conditioning down lower than I do or do without, which is what I do. *sigh* They just melt in our heat and humidity. But then, there are lots of others--and I love to experiment and try new and different ones. Not necessarily new as in newly discovered or hybridized, just new to me.

I live in Sacramento, CA and I grow my streps and nematanthus outside year round on the front porch. It faces north west so I have to shelter them from direct sun. I would love to grow other gesneriads out there if I have them.

I have a quesiton for Xanadu: Do you grow your streps in the ground?

For those in Northern California, the San Francisco Gesneriad Society is having a one day sale next Saturday, June 3, 2006 (10 AM-about 3:30PM) at our regular meeting room at the building at Strybing Arboretum in SF (8th and Lincoln Way). Park in the lot, accessible from Lincoln Way at 10th, and enter through the back patio area. We should have a good selection of gesneriads, plus lots of advice. There will also be a nice display of specimen plants.

On this topic: Right now my best outdoor gesneriad is Sinningia leucotricha, growing in a large jardinaire on my front porch. It has been in that pot, undisturbed for over 15 years. Right now it has many stems with perfectly silverly soft new foliage and flowers in each whorl. My indoor leucotrichas are much further along, with the leaves larger and not so soft and silvery, have set seed, and will be cut back to get some nice foliage for summer shows. I have to wait until the seed can be collected though.

A few years ago I saw Sinningia tubiflora planted out in a garden, doing very well and flowering in full hot Sacramento sun. I have grown streps in the ground, but the soil needs to be heavily amended to lighten it up. Clay just isn't in the strep volcabulary. Sinningias can be planted in the garden though. In nature many grow in rock crevices, so would be good for pockets in a stone wall. Where it freezes but doesn't get much colder than about 28F, sinningias can be planted out but the tubers must be under the soil, or the exposed tops will freeze to mush, sometimes killing the tuber and sometimes not.

Jon