What will be the common name for Achimenes?

                                 Achimenes 'Red Elf' grown by Ron Myhr, Aug, 2021

What will the common name be for Achimenes?

 

Achimenes               ah-KIM-eh-neez

 

 Achimenes are pretty flowering summer plants not commonly seen.

 

They were a commercial crop about 50 years ago and then disappeared.  Interest in Achimenes continued in the Gesneriad hobby world but seldom anywhere else.

 

With work and luck, they may make a comeback.  I’ve obtained the best-in- the-World hybrids from Romania and will be introducing them to the North American market.

 

Achimenes are long day to flower, so plants started in the spring, will flower through the summer, and go dormant in the fall after making underground rhizomes.

 

Here is the problem.  There is no good common name.  A Google search will give you:

Cupid’s bow, hot water plants, magic flower, monkey faced pansy, Mother’s tears, nut-orchid, Orchid pansy, star of India, widow’s tears.

 

I’ll just jump to the conclusion.  None of these existing common names make any sense nor are any good.

 

The field is wide open.

 

What should the common name be?

 

Purists will want us to learn to say Achimenes {ah-KIM-eh-neez}

 

We practical humans will want an easy memorable common name.  Nobody says:  “Have you seen my Aeschynanthus radicans?”  They say: “Wow. Look at my Lipstick Plant with its red flowers.”

 

With no good established common name for Achimenes, the time is right.

 

What will the common name be?

'Prudence Risley' has passed the test...

                                 Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' bought at Longwood Gardens - 2012

            Plants come and go, and some should stay.

 

            Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley’ has proven itself to be a dependable flowering houseplant and needs to be available to garden centers.  It has red tubular flowers that open in succession on a short branched green plant.

 

            Production could be speeded up with tissue culture turning out thousands, but top cuttings can work if commitment is made to enough stock plants.  Root one tip, cut its top piece for the next crop.  The two to four branches set bud quickly and will flower with a head of bright red flowers to draw attention of indoor gardeners.      ----- A side issue is that it wants to flower so much that it’s hard to keep the shoots vegetative for propagation.

 

            After a long flowering period, the top will die back and look ugly.  A tuber has been forming and will resprout for another round of top growth and flowering --- A very rewarding plant.

 

            My neighbor, Vicky, has her ‘Prudence’ in a big patio container for summer flowering.  She keeps the tuber in the planter over the winter in a cool and dry basement.

 

            ‘Prudence' can be in a small hanging basket at a window so it can get maximum light to keep it short for flowering. 

 

            Even if it must stretch for light it will flower on the trailing stems.  Some people like free form.  I like short and sturdy.

 

            Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley’ has been tested for over 10 years.  It’s pretty and red.

 

            Try one and tell your friends.

                           'Prudence Risley' grown by Jim Steurerlein -Hybridizer

Who wants to tissue culture my plants?

Sinningia 'Colorado Sunset'

        

                                                                                  
 

Who wants to produce my tissue culture plants?

 

            Maybe there is someone out there that wants to propagate my specialty plants with their own tissue culture lab?

 

            The commercial labs that I’ve talked to are too busy with the hundreds of clones that can benefit from this specialized technique.

 

            Specifically, I want someone to give me Stage II unrooted top cuttings of Sinningias.  Stage II is slightly hardened unrooted top shoots that can be shipped to me, and I will root them.  I’ve done this before until my sources disappeared.

 

            Commercial labs mostly have production greenhouses associated with them to grow plantlets to Stage IV, rooted plugs ready for transplant.

 

            But I only need the test tube part of the system.  I’ve not done it, but clever adventurous homeowners have done this in their kitchens.

 

            The serious science is in establishing the correct protocol for the chemicals in the agar.  The formula is known for Sinningias and there are sources for the media.

 

            So, who wants to do it?

 

            Please email me, gary@garysspecialtyplants.com with your plan.  It would be a great service to Horticulture.