Paul, I'm not sure how to change message set up. Can you send me your address to frank.boyko@comcast.net and I will get some seeds off to you. The seeds have been forming all summer and a few more to ripen. So I have plenty. Thanks Janice

Guess what happens if you self a hybrid plant... The progeny is variable - and none of them is actually the named plant. All the new plantlets are (Sinningia 'Lisa' x self.)

And you can get purple, pink, single, double, with pattern in a throat or not.

The plant on a photo is absolutely gorgeous. But.... Sinningia 'Lisa' is a double pink. with some spots. This one is single ... and instead of spots it has a white and red pattern on a lower petals.

Presumably - there is 'Lisa' somewhere down the line. But the seeds will be selfing of selfing.

Irina, the nag

Irina, the lady who originally gave me the bulbs said her Lisa sometimes is a single and sometimes a double. But the fact that the seeds may be different colors is very interesting. Think I will plant a few more seeds to see what I can get, I don't mind if they are not named.

Really would like a nice purple one. Just love the size and amount of flowers I get from a mature plant. You can nag me anytime. Thanks Janice

Janice-

Most mini Sinningias set seeds if you pollinate them - and some easily self pollinate.

Kind of getting cold - but the place to buy mini-Siningias is Dave's Violets - David Harris is a hybridizer of Ozark series of Sinningias - double and single. Plus he is extremely accurate and knowledgeable on the history and genealogy of all minis.

The nature of the hybrid - it is a product of a careful selection - cross, backcross to the parents, selecting the best - may be another cross between the siblings - until all desirable recessive and dominant genes are laying just so. After that - hybrid is named and propagated ONLY vegetatively. Tip cuttings are the easiest to root.

When the plant is selfed or crossed with something else - it throws the wrench in this assembly of genes. And what you get - who knows - but very probably - raw material that needs to go through selection and back crossing process again. Selfing often brings a weaker version of the original. Looks like it - but not really at its best.

If your Sinningia friend has 'Lisa" that looks like it... kinda... but not always double... the pattern on the petals is off - there can be 2 causes of it - one we just analysed - it is a selfing. The second cause - it is a sport. We know that hybrid AVs sport ... at the change of the weather sometimes. If you ever grew fantasy streps - they sport too and not all babies come right as well. Hybrid Sinningias... they belong to the same very flexible family of Gesneriaceae... which is lovely since it gives us all this incredible variety. So - it can be a sport.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it - your plant is out of this world beautiful. You just need to mark it as a sport of 'Lisa' and continue. So if you share the cutting - it will continue to be a sport of 'Lisa' and if you self it for seeds - you just mark them as a selfing...of a sport of Lisa.

For hybridizers and sellers... it is important to have all plants blooming true to the description, And I am sure - that Dave Harris will not sell you a plant that he knows it is off. He can use it in his hybridization - or decorate the compost pile.

Like if you want to adopt a dog - you go to shelter - and pick the one that you fall in love with. But if you shell $$$$ for a pedigree dog... you expect it to look according to the standards of the breed, And a German shepherd with short dachshund legs probably will not be the one you take home.... unless it is free,

My violet club recently did a "Be the Bee" program and we all tried our hand at self pollination. Since I lean towards things that are not violets I got to play with my primulina's and sinningias. Actually I recently purchased four of Dave's sinningia's, Playful Porpoise, An's Nyx, Peg of My Heart and Isa's Gorgeous. Previously I was given Gabriel's Horn which is now a very mature plant that is blooming it's brain's out. That plant is making me desire more of this family needless to say. If I end up with plants that are not worthy, the local nursing homes just love it when I bring my extra blooming plants there. Preferable to putting them in the compost heap in my mind. Thanks for explaining how much goes into a successful plant that is worth the money we pay to purchase them. Janice

Dave's own hybrids (as Irina mentions) are the Ozark series, the others are probably other people's hybrids he grows. I can certainly say you should try the Ozarks.

I'm local enough that I have visited with Dave several times, and once assisted as his cashier at a plant sale in Tulsa. He's a nice man, but not the most verbose you've ever dealt with. He does grow a limited selection of many types of gesneriads including AVs.

Never grew Peg of My Heart - the rest are Good! Not minis - they are all good size. I think An's Nyx can be fragrant - it has a lot of S. conspicua in it - and S.conspicua is quite fragrant. Conspicua is a powdery mildew magnet - and both yellow hybrids of it - An's Nyx and Solstice - are resistant.

Isa's Gorgeous is amazing - but the bloomstalks are weak - and the blossoms always look down - which is a little disappointing - but it is very easy plant, grows itself.

I do not grow Playful Porpoise- Dale Martens hybrid - but I grow 2 of its hybrids - both also double calyx blossoms - S Kevin Garnet and Diva. Good stuff.

There are 3 variatons of Gabriel's Horn - and David should have them all. The trailing with purple on red, the upright with red and orange blossoms - and something in-between.

I love David's dry sense of humor. Verrry dry. I was at his talk at the AVSA Convention on Sinningia hybridization. Was pretty good.

I'm drawn to the double calyx flowers, guess more petals for more zing. Thanks for the head's up on the possibility of powdery mildew, one more thing to watch for. Actually I have Solstice budding up right now, it's been two years since it bloomed for me. As long as they eventually bloom I'm not too fussy. The only problem with staking these up is the bulbs are in the way, so I have to get creative. This summer I attended the Gesneriad show in Framingham, MA, it was well worth the trip and met Dave there. Thanks for all the information you are sharing with the group.

Janice

A tip, you get more flowers with single blooms, less energy than to produce all those flouncy double layers.

Always true for AVs, mostly true for mini-SInningias as well. In Gessies it sometimes depends what species went into this specific hybrid. Kevin Garnett can be loaded with tons. I saw S. conspicua heavily blooming and perfuming the whole room at SF gesneriad society show. On the other side - SInningia bullata - is a very desirable plant - but most of the hybrids based on this species have 2-4 blossoms per stem.

Texas Zebra is of a medium size - gives decent bloom count - and it is easy to grow. The stripes in the good size single lavender pink blossoms come from Sinningia striata - one of the grandparents - and it blooms once a season with the blossoms on the top of the stem. As a result - Texas Zebra has a very short blooming period.

These hybrids that came from big tuber parents... who knows.

On the other side - Janice and I both attended Dale Martens's lecture in Framingham. (I did - hope Janice did too). And when she grows mini Sinningias - she pinches the buds from first two internodes. As a result - the plant accumulates energy to put a good head. I think it should work on many varieties - probably not on Isa's Gorgeous... it is not a mini...

I was poking about this morning and I think I found the correct name for my sinningia. It looks much more like one of the photos of Super Pink that I saw with the pretty throat. This plant is a single rather than the double of Lisa. Also I have a plantlet getting ready to bloom in the community pot I have next to Super Pink. Don't know how it got there and there is only one. You would think there would be many if it self seeded, and this is my only likely candidate for motherhood. Will post a photo when the flower opens just for fun. Janice

Well, my baby seedling opened yesterday and I was a bit disappointed in some ways. It looks just like momma, I was looking forward to a different color or pattern. Guess I will have to wait a few months to see what the other seeds I planted end up doing. Janice

Janice - it doesnt exactly look like Momma. Momma has white on 2 petals, this one on one, same about reddish stripes. Otherwise - none of them look like Lisa should look though both of them are very pretty. Ithink Momma i better.

Why you didn't get blues? Blues are dominant to pink. So Momma should have both color genes - recessive pink. Otherwise Momma would be blue itself.

Am I correct that the first bloom is not always the "correct" bloom that the plant is capable of producing? Like having more or less petals. I know that's how it works with some of my violets. Janice

It is more typical for AVs. There will be some variation between the blossoms - but not a significant one.

It has been about a year now and some of my seedlings are blooming. As you can see they all have the basic pink, white and red throat of varying degrees. The bloom with more white is my favorite at the moment. But they are all keepers in my book even if they don't have an official name. Janice

Official name is Sinningia 'Lisa' x self. Nothing wrong with it and they are all variations on 'Lisa', very pretty.