Class 31B - flowering Streptocarpus hybrids

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 31B Streptocarpus, subgenus Streptocarpus, hybrids



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Entry No. 138, Streptocarpus 'Summer Parfait', exhibited by Carol Hamelink.  Score: 92. First Place.
Entry No. 188, Streptocarpus 'Crystal Charm', exhibited by Gail Gray.  Score: 86. Second Place.
Entry No. 372, Streptocarpus 'Night Beacon', exhibited by Richard G. Carr.  Score: 85. Third Place.
Entry No. 447, Streptocarpus 'Crystal Charm', exhibited by Paul Lee.  Score: 84. 
Entry No. 374, Streptocarpus 'Midnight Blue', exhibited by Richard G. Carr.  Score: 75. 

Class 30 - flowering Streptocarpus species

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 30 Streptocarpus, subgenus Streptocarpus, species


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Entry No. 278, Streptocarpus johannis JT-04-06, exhibited by Bob Stewart.  Score: 96. First Place.
Entry No. 476, Streptocarpus lilliputana, exhibited by Bill Price.  Score: 87. Second Place.

Class 16 - flowering Episcia, Alsobia

SECTION C - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Fibrous-Rooted
Class 16 Episcia, Alsobia




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Entry No. 111, Alsobia 'Cygnet', exhibited by Lynn Cook and Troy Ray.  Score: 97. First Place.
Entry No. 109, Episcia 'Silver Dust', exhibited by Lynn Cook and Troy Ray.  Score: 90. Second Place.
Entry No. 224, Episcia 'My Precious', exhibited by Jay Sespico.  Score: 84. Third Place.
Entry No. 110, Episcia 'Kee Wee', exhibited by Lynn Cook and Troy Ray.  Score: 83. 

A Passion for Petrocosmea

If it's not already on your browsing list, check out Tim Tuttle's blog at http://petrocosmea.blogspot.com/.  No further introductions necessary, I'm sure.

Class 36B - Petrocosmea (no flowers)

SECTION E - Gesneriads Grown for Ornamental Qualities Other Than Flowers - Decorative fruit and calyces are permitted, but no flowers or buds showing color. A plant should have some special quality of color, texture or growth habit to be entered in this section.
Class 36B Petrocosmea


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Entry No. 233, Petrocosmea rosettifolia, exhibited by Tim Tuttle.  Score: 95. First Place.
Entry No. 449, Petrocosmea rosettifolia, exhibited by Alicia Belyo.  Score: 91. Second Place.
Entry No. 309, Petrocosmea menglianensis, exhibited by Paul Kroll.  Score: 88. Third Place.
Entry No. 403, Petrocosmea sp. 'Yumebutai', exhibited by Nancy Carr.  Score: 85.
Entry No. 400, Petrocosmea menglianensis, exhibited by Nancy Carr.  Score: 83.
Entry No. 193, Petrocosmea rosettifolia, exhibited by Neale W. Stuart-Merriman.  Score: 82.

Class 27 - flowering standard Saintpaulia hybrids/cultivars

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 27 Saintpaulia hybrids or cultivars classified as standards

Click through for photos. I don't have a good photo of Optimara Annabelle, but you can see it on The Gesneriad Society's website.

Entry No. 345, Saintpaulia ''Optimara Annabelle'', exhibited by Sylvia Taub.  Score: 98. First Place.
Entry No. 485, Saintpaulia 'Halo's Aglitter', exhibited by Mary S. Schaeffer.  Score: 89. Second Place.

Class 33C - Chirita (no flowers)

SECTION E - Gesneriads Grown for Ornamental Qualities Other Than Flowers - Decorative fruit and calyces are permitted, but no flowers or buds showing color. A plant should have some special quality of color, texture or growth habit to be entered in this section.
Class 33C Chirita

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Entry No. 329, Chirita 'Cynthia', exhibited by Julie Thompson.  Score: 96. First Place.
Entry No. 383, Chirita linearifolia, exhibited by Richard G. Carr.  Score: 93. Second Place.
Entry No. 107, Chirita sp. USBRG 98-083, exhibited by Bev Promersberger.  Score: 92. Third Place.
Entry No. 205, Chirita 'Moonlight', exhibited by Barbara Stewart.  Score: 88.
Entry No. 106, Chirita 'Nimbus', exhibited by Bev Promersberger.  Score: 86.
Entry No. 108, Chirita 'Little Dragon', exhibited by Bev Promersberger.  Score: 85.
Entry No. 393, Chirita 'Moonlight', exhibited by Richard G. Carr.  Score: 80.
Entry No. 514, Chirita hybrid, exhibited by Kristina Schmid.  Score: 80.

Class 3 - upright flowering tuberous Sinningia species

SECTION A - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Tuberous
Class 3 Other Sinningia species with upright growth pattern

This was an awesome class.  Unfortunately, I don't have closeups or judging info for all of them.  Click through for more photos. (Go straight to the slideshow.)

Entry No. 121, Sinningia sp. 'Florianopolis', exhibited by Carol Hamelink.  Score: 97. First Place.
Entry No. 132, Sinningia amambayensis, exhibited by Carol Hamelink.  Score: 96. Second Place.
Entry No. 508, Sinningia iarae x 'Skydiver', exhibited by Jay Sespico.  Score: 87. Third Place.
Entry No. 221, Sinningia sp. 'Florianopolis', exhibited by Jay Sespico.  Score: 84. 
Entry No. 360, Sinningia araneosa, exhibited by Stephen Maciejewski.  Score: 79.
Entry No. 220, Sinningia aggregata, exhibited by Jay Sespico.  Score: 75.

Class 1 - Sinningia speciosa

SECTION A - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Tuberous
Class 1 Sinningia speciosa species or hybrids (upright or pendent flowers)

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Entry No. 365, Sinningia speciosa 'Carangola', exhibited by Ben Paternoster.  Score: 95. First Place.
Entry No. 167, Sinningia speciosa 'Cabo Frio', exhibited by Wallace Wells.  Score: 88. Second Place.
Entry No. 299, Sinningia speciosa 'Gilbert's Grape', exhibited by Betsy R. Sherwin.  Score: 86. Third Place.

Class 2 - rosette flowering tuberous Sinningia species

SECTION A - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Tuberous
Class 2 Other Sinningia species with rosette growth pattern

Click for photos.





Two quite differently sized species in this class:

Entry No. 460, Sinningia macropoda Dwarf, exhibited by Arleen Dewell.  Score: 90. First Place.
Entry No. 284, Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Pedras', exhibited by Paul Susi.  Score: 79. Third Place.

Class 4A - rosette flowering tuberous Sinningia hybrids

SECTION A - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Tuberous
Class 4A Other Sinningia hybrids with rosette growth pattern


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Class 4 was split into A and B.  In 4A were:

Entry No. 367, Sinningia 'Heartland's Dancing', exhibited by Ben Paternoster.  Score: 93. First Place.
Entry No. 430, Sinningia 'Simply Scentsational', exhibited by Charlene Marietti.  Score: 92. Second Place.
Entry No. 236, Sinningia 'HCY's Voodoo', exhibited by Tim Tuttle.  Score: 91. Third Place.
Entry No. 240, Sinningia 'Heartland's Dancing', exhibited by Tim Tuttle.  Score: 90. Honorable Mention.
Entry No. 431, Sinningia 'HCY's Blue Dolphin', exhibited by Charlene Marietti.  Score: 89. 
Entry No. 241, Sinningia 'HCY's Lady Lady', exhibited by Tim Tuttle.  Score: 88. 
Entry No. 259, Sinningia 'Peridots', exhibited by Karyn Cichocki.  Score: not scored.
Entry No. 298, Sinningia 'Amizade', exhibited by Betsy R. Sherwin.  Score: not scored. 

Photos of Class 4B are back over here.

(Navigating flickr.com: Photo sizes in the slideshow view are larger than the standard page-by-page view. While in slideshow, you can click "show info" to see the description. Wherever possible, I've included info from the judging sheets in the descriptions - for educational and informational purposes.)

Eucodonia 'Adele' rhizomes

Just to piggyback on Brian's post below, at left is a photo of Eucodonia 'Adele' rhizomes.  These were brought in to one of our meetings by Jim Roberts, who did a presentation on growing gesneriads in LECA (expanded clay aggregate).  LECA is a hydroponic medium, and can be used to grow plants "semi-hydroponically" - i.e., with an inch or two of water in the bottom. For more on growing in LECA, see Jim's article in the August 2008 issue of the Petal Tones newsletter (newsletter archive here, and here's a direct link to August 2008 PDF).  Of course, fall is not exactly the best time of year to repot most plants into a new medium - that's best done when the plants are actively growing. If you want to try it now, pick a plant that keeps growing through the winter.

Fun With Smithiantha and Eucodonia

by Brian C. 

I really enjoy growing Smithianthas and (recently) Eucodonias. Good culture is rewarded by spectacular flowers and velvety foilage. If only I could be more consistent! More information about the joys and difficulties growing these beautiful gesneriads is coming soon to Petal Tones. Ultimately, I would like to cross a Smithiantha with Gloxinia erinoides (if such a cross was possible) to get a smaller plant with a more compact spire of flowers. The Smithiantha is S. 'Pat’s Pets Donkey', a cross between S. cinnabarina and S. canarina. Eucodonia 'Adele' is also shown with a single lavender flower.

Class 5 - upright flowering tuberous Sinningia hybrids

SECTION A - New World Gesneriads in Flower - Tuberous
Class 5 Other Sinningia hybrids with upright growth pattern

In this class is one of my personal favorites from the show, Sinningia 'Tomorrow', a Peter Shalit creation.  The upright flowers are very human-pollinator-friendly ;-)  (I don't know if it is fertile...?)

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Entry No. 155, Sinningia 'Deep Purple Dreamin', exhibited by Beverly Williams.  Score: 93. First Place.
Entry No. 235, Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn sport', exhibited by Tim Tuttle.  Score: 92. Second Place.
Entry No. 164, Sinningia 'Tomorrow', exhibited by Peter Shalit.  Score: 91. Third Place.
Entry No. 341, Sinningia eumorpha x  'Sultan', exhibited by Sylvia Taub.  Score: 90. Honorable Mention.
Entry No. 304, Sinningia florianopolis x (leopoldii x self), exhibited by Paul Kroll.  Score: 86. 
Entry No. 343, Sinningia 'California Sunset', exhibited by Sylvia Taub.  Score: 81.
Entry No. 342, Sinningia 'Gabriel's Horn', exhibited by Sylvia Taub.  Score: 70. 

..and we're already talking about the spring show

We had a good meeting on Saturday - our first since the Convention and we're already talking about our Show in March 2010. 

Ken Maier's presentation on gesneriads in Ecuador was excellent - made doubly educational thanks to Larry Skog providing names for most of the gesneriads.  We're really lucky to have them in our group.  Ken also had photographs of some amazing bugs and fungi.

Next meeting: October 10.  (That would be the same day as the orchid society's fall show.  Come early, visit both....)

Photo: the raffle table.

Class 24 - flowering Saintpaulia species

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 24 Saintpaulia species

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Entry No. 257, Saintpaulia ionantha ssp. grotei 'Silvert', exhibited by Karyn Cichocki. Score: 96. First Place.
Entry No. 412, Saintpaulia shumensis cl shumensis Mather EE, exhibited by Nancy Carr. Score: 93. Second Place.
Entry No. 104, Saintpaulia orbicularis 'purpurea', exhibited by Bev Promersberger. Score: 85. Third Place.
Entry No. 486, Saintpaulia ionantha ssp. grotei, exhibited by Mary S. Schaeffer. Score: 84. Honorable Mention.

Meeting on Sat 9/12, 11am, National Arboretum

Yup, we are back. Meeting this Saturday at the National Arboretum in D.C. Doors open 10:30, program starts 11:00 - Ken (Andy) Meier will be talking about his orchid gesneriad trip to Ecuador.

Class 22B - flowering Chirita hybrids

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 22B Chirita hybrids

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Entry No. 290, Chirita 'Cynthia', exhibited by Carolyn Conlin-Lane. Score: 95. First Place.
Entry No. 516, Chirita 'Nimbus', exhibited by Carol Hamelink. Score: 94. Second Place.
Entry No. 307, Chirita 'Rachel', exhibited by Paul Kroll. Score: 93. Third Place.
Entry No. 273, Chirita 'Rachel', exhibited by Mary Bozoian. Score: 91.
Entry No. 448, Chirita 'Diane Marie', exhibited by Jo Anne Martinez. Score: 85.

Class 22A - flowering Chirita hybrids

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 22A Chirita hybrids

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Entry No. 103, Chirita 'Nimbus', exhibited by Bev Promersberger. Score: 96. First Place.
Entry No. 336, Chirita 'Vertigo', exhibited by Sylvia Taub. Score: 91. Second Place.
Entry No. 337, Chirita 'Nimbus', exhibited by Sylvia Taub. Score: 87. Third Place.
Entry No. 394, Chirita 'Kitaguni', exhibited by Richard G. Carr. Score: 85.
Entry No. 388, Chirita 'Piccolo', exhibited by Richard G. Carr. Score: 84.

Class 25 - flowering miniature Saintpaulia hybrids/cultivars

SECTION D - Old World Gesneriads in Flower
Class 25 Saintpaulia hybrids or cultivars classified as miniatures (max of 6" diameter)

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Entry No. 291, Saintpaulia 'Rob's Twinkle Pink', exhibited by Carolyn Conlin-Lane. Score: 96. First Place.
Entry No. 294, Saintpaulia 'Skagit Lil Filly', exhibited by Carolyn Conlin-Lane. Score: 95. Second Place.
Entry No. 362, Saintpaulia 'Honey Blue Ace', exhibited by Bob Clark. Score: 94. Third Place.
Entry No. 225, Saintpaulia 'Kentucky Baby Bells', exhibited by Jay Sespico. Score: 89.