Greatest thing since sliced bread, O. T.

Maurice Sendak

            I’m no longer impressed with sliced bread.  If anything, the advancement is to actually get bread that is not sliced.

            To me it should be:  The greatest thing since flannel sheets!

            Flannel sheets must not be that common.  No motel features soft flannel sheets.

            My history started as a kid on the farm where my farmhouse upstairs bedroom had no heat.  My Mother had warm flannel sheets for Winter and smooth cotton sheets for Summer.

            I don’t remember how I got back to trying flannel again as an adult but it’s great, year around.  If your skin is shocked by cool slick sheets, try flannel.  After three nights of soft and warm, you’ll never go back.

Who wants this plant and why?

Pilea peperomioides

There is demand for Pilea peperomioides, the Chinese Money Plant.

            Why?

Apparently, there has been viral circulation of pictures and stories about this green houseplant.

It’s just been sitting there in the mix with other carefree foliage houseplants.  Like most ‘hits’, it would be impossible to predict or plan for.

A few years ago, it was the ‘Peace Lily’ – Spathiphyllum.  Everybody wanted one.   Then it was ‘Fiddle Leaf Fig’ – Ficus lyrata.  The World’s supply is just now catching up.

If growers could anticipate which plant is the new hot one, money could be made.  If growers could create this demand for their ’championed’ variety, Primulina 'Loki', money could be made.

The only answer is to use the Walmart method--- watch what sells, get more of that.

I’m going to start growing Pilea peperomioides until nobody buys it anymore.

If you would start a Gesneriad Farm...

Mini Sinningias - Assorted

If you would start a Gesneriad Farm, what would you do?

            Let’s suppose that the houseplant boom of the 1970’s is starting again.

            The leading commercial horticulture trade magazine, Grower Talks, gave its lead story to this idea.  The Sill, of NYC, gets a mention as a rising star by building a retail mail order source for foliage houseplants.  They also just opened their second storefront in Manhattan.

            If every apartment dweller in NYC suddenly sees the need for a plant, we will need a lot of plants.

            The grower at Costa Farms, FL, makes this novel observation:  “Urban markets are exploding with small apartments and rental units, and houseplants are, in a way, taking the place of pets.”

            Last time, the supply never did catch up with the demand.  Then it peaked, and houseplants proceeded to crash toward zero.

            While starting with easy surviving foliage plants, it quickly moved into more interesting oddities and flowering plants.  Enter---- Gesneriads.

            African Violets, the leading flowering houseplant in the World survived ---- most others did not.

            Are indoor gardeners ready for Streptocarpus, Nematanthus, Columnea, Aeschynanthus, Primulina and Sinningias?  Since there is very little supply, nobody knows.

            As Seth Godin says:  “Start small, start now!”

Streptocarpus 'Rose Halo'

To Champion...

Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' - Where are you?

To Champion…

            Synonyms:  advocate, promote, defend, uphold, support, back, stand up for, crusade for…

            “To Champion” a particular plant takes a lot.

Sinningia 'An's Nyx' - Where are you?

What ever happened to S. 'Li'l Georgie' ?

Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie' grown by the late John Lindstrom

What ever happened to S. ‘Li’l Georgie’?

            Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ was and is a most amazing plant.  The hybrid Sinningia (S. concinna x S. muscicola) made by Jim Steuerlein in Florida was a breakthrough.  Through testing, we learned that this micro-miniature Sinningia could be grown in the open without any extra humidity.

            It’s not false advertising to say that it is one of the World’s smallest everblooming houseplants.

            I gave the history, starting here, of my attempt to distribute it into commercial horticulture channels.  We sold several thousand.

            And then what happened?

            My second tissue culture lab closed its business.  With the end of the only practical source of propagation, the ‘Li’l Georgie’ project died.      

            Will it come back to life?

            The plant is too good to stay hidden.

Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie' - Always flowering