Thursday, November 26, 2009

Pretty picture: Streptocarpus saxorum


I first learned this as Streptocarpella, but davesgarden.com now tells me that the correct name is Streptocarpus saxorum. I didn't verify this anywhere, but it seems likely enough.

I've only ever seen S. saxorum for sale in one place ("Store A"), and for some reason they have a lot of it, so I infer that it must not sell very well. Also it's clearly a pain to groom.


6 comments:

Aaerelon said...

We have about eight of these plants throughout the greenhouses. They seem to grow well and are always in flower. There have been some insect infestations and they start to look really aweful with time. Fortunately they grow readily from cuttings.

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. S! My family went to a restaurant this year, and I couldn't pass up the wine selection: a Schlumberger Gewurztraminer. I told my dining companions why I was choosing it, but I don't think any of them quite appreciated the synchronicity.

mr_subjunctive said...

sneakishfrog:

Well now I really want there to be a plant called Gewurztraminera something. Though I bet there isn't.

Was the wine good?

. said...

Haha, looks like it's a Polish version of the same word, though!

It was tasty! Though very sweet and had almost a violet perfume sort of bouquet - it lasted through the whole dinner versus my mother's three glasses of chardonnay. Bonus? Perhaps.

Thomas said...

I've been growing it in a hanging pot, I think mine is 'Concord Blue'. As it grows it tends to open out which makes it easier to pull spent flower stems and the occasional yellow leaf. I found it's not as fussy about drying as some other gesneriads, and mealybugs don't seem interested, but it does need good light to bloom. When it gets straggly I take cuttings to renew it. If I root them directly in the pot in soil with root hormone, they all take (no potting up, yeah.) Curious that it's not more popular, maybe with another color beside mauve/lavender-blue.

Unknown said...

My false violet grows like crazy! It's leaves have a fuzzy beautiful shimmer and every few years it sprouts the most beautiful little purple tubular flowers. My family has dubbed it the Purple Rain flower in honor of the late musician Prince. If you cut its long stems and place them in fresh water you will find that within a few it will sprout roots. These can easily be repoted and given as gifts.