Yes Greg, I have bought from Vmee in the past... as a matter of fact, I just got this very plant from him last week!

JB, I'll post a photo in the next day or so of my plant stands.

Now, if you really want temptation, go to your eBay page and just type "Streptocarpus" in the search engine!

Oh yeah! Its true!

STOP THIS NOW! I have so much pleasure from these plants, I am ready to get rid of all my other ones and fill the greenhouse and bird room with streps. Greg, who will I turn to when you get rid of your plants. Will you still share your wisdom? You rescued me and now you are stuck with me.

On the other hand, I have one of your babies so I have an excuse to talk to you when it blooms. It looks great and has come back like a miracle. Why do people say these plants are hard to grow?

Karen, did you start with One or more? Tell me how you managed to get 70 plants. I think that is wonderful but can not imagine how you keep them happy. I am getting older by the day and 85 is not the age to begin to even consider another 70 plants.

JB - I love this thread, so yes I'll check it regularly haha!! Also I thought you were 75, not 85 - you look/sound great! And of course from a young 'un like myself I can say, you're never too old to begin a new hobbie, obsession or whatever - it sparks passion and that's an important thing to have at any age!! (in my humble opinion!)
I will have a couple plants to share in the fall, I'll take photos and see if anyone on here is interested.
Be well

I am going to be 85 in August. I am having a problem with aging. My mind is younger than my body and I keep doing things that HURT. I keep forgetting I am not able to do some things like I used to. i am really finding that these days when the heat is 90 deg. plus here in NJ for the past few days. It is 107 deg, in the greenhouse just now. No way can i work out there when it is that hot. All fans are working and still hot. Shade cloth is on year round anymore. Sun has gotten to very hot in the past year I just keep it on.

I am going to look into the gesneriad society and see if I can find some into on Sinningias. I got one with an order of AVs and it has a bud in the very center of the plant. I also started babies with a leaf that I broke off when I unpacked it. I am really interested in them too.

Off to feed the animals. See you all tomorrow.

JB...

I started out in gesneriads in 2006, with episcias. I became a member of DG, and found that there were other plants in the family besides AVs (never have been as find if AVs but I do have four of those too). Then I saw a photo of a streptocarpus, and I was hooked! From '06 to '07, I developed a nice collection of gesneriads, most of which were streps and episcias. Somewhere along the line, someone sent me a plant with mealy bugs, and since I didn't know about quarantining, it quickly spread. I tried and tried to save my precious plants, but eventually lost every plant I owned. I was soooo discouraged that I quit growing for several years.

Then last Spring, I decided to take a look at a couple of my old favorites, and start growing them again. What a difference five years makes in hybridizing!!! I was completely blown away by the Polish and Russian varieties! So not only did I work to get my old favorites back, like Nerys and Spin Art, I quickly added many new favorites too! I even contacted Pavel Enikeeva in the Ukraine directly, and ordered from him in person! His DS-Little Furry Arctic Fox is my very favorite strep now. I still have my original plants from him and used it in some hybridizing myself. I am just getting ready to plant seed from my own hybridizing attempts!

I am most partial to the fantasy streps and I am trying to collect all the old ones still in existence, as well as new ones that come out. When Spin Art was introduced in 2007, I nearly had a heart attack! It is still my second favorite!

I grow many other gesneriads now, and I do recommend you join the Gesneriad Society! With your membership packet, you will receive a packet of mixed gesneriad seed! You also have access to the Seed Fund which has many hybrid and species varieties available.

I really love my plants, but yes, they can become overwhelming, especially with my busy work schedule. My streps at this time are pouting badly due to this heat wave we are having!

JB, you go girl! I have one friend in PA who is 77 and she has WAY MORE than I do and she is hybridizing some fantastic fantasy streps and having the time of her life!

Karen
(The photo is my DS-Little Furry Arctic Fox, all the way from the Ukraine!)

That is a beautiful flower.

I guess I have no choice but to try and catch up with your friend. I am not good with seeds. I overwater them all the time. I am great with cuttiings and I am learning about leaves. I have downsized for selling to the Holiday cactus Since I closed my exotic bird breeding business I only have 4 birds left and I have a great bird room with East and North exposure...all windows.....I would love to find a practical way to display these plants and that is why I was asking how you keep so many in your house. I would like to keep these for my pleasure and not sell them, unless of course I get too many of one kind, which I do not want to do, but I do want to learn how to propagate them but the hybridizing, not sure I want to get into that. Unless you want to teach a class on here how to do it. I am listening.

I am having such fun with these few I have but I need to find a display that fits my home so I do not look cluttered. I am not one for clutter. Since I sold my big home (5 bedrooms) I have had to get rid of so much of my furniture, then I bought the farm and that was smaller (just two bedrooms), now I am down to one bedroom and no extra rooms for plants. <sigh>.

Any help you can give me I will surely appreciate. Going to get lunch and visit the gesneraids society website. Karen, did you have a problem with inspections when you got your plants from out of the country? i doubt they would get past the NJ inspectors unless they were certified somehow. That would really be neat to buy some of those beauties.

Wow how pretty Karen!!

Everyone's streps look fabulous. Noreen and Geronimo were calling my name, haha if you know what I mean.

Hi all,I started some streps from leaf cuttings last spring. They are blooming now.They are lavender & not my first choice. I love dark blue & red but these will be good to practice on.I bottom water & am surprised how much they take up.I have them in an east window. I pull a curtain about 9 on hot sunny days until the sun gets around the house.The room isn't air conditioned & got very hot a few days.They like it cooler. I started some cuttings a couple weeks ago & we got scorching days & I forgot to move them to air conditioned room. They succumbed due to heat. Hope my friend will give me another leaf.I won't forget to watch the heat again!
Some got a long skinny leaf.Is that due to lack of good light? I just trimmed it off.I potted them in equal parts peat moss,vermiculite & perlite from a recipe I found on line. I fertilize with a weak fertilizer I use on my orchids most every time I water.
SewNsow

That one looks like my lavender and they are so soft and pretty. The Salmon one I have blooming now is just beautiful. They all just keep blooming and blooming. Some have six or more blooms on one plant. i am just so happy I found these plants. They are such a pleasure to have around. I still think "Wow" and the Salmon are my two favorites so far. I want more but I need to buy some shelves. Any suggestions where I can find some nice white shelves that would work for these plants?

SewNSow, you're doing the right thing! The leaves can get very long, it isn't due to light, they just do that sometimes!
I moved mine into my yard, not expecting much since I thought they were all done (the leaves do "burn out") but sure enough they all began blooming again!! I do love these plants too JB! I'll get photos of mine, somehow I must have taken cuttings so now I have 2 pots of the same looking flowers...really don't know how that happened but I will admit that I'm not the most careful gardener!
Later in the fall I can send people leaves. I have a small white blooming one, that's nice with smaller leaves, its called "Heartland's baby Egrets" the bloom is white with a yellow throat. I also have lavender with yellow and some striping.
No dark blues or reds. (I had some of those but they've either died or been given away!)
Cheers for now!

Here is a picture of the first strep I ever had given to me. I cherish it and it is showing me it like it here also.
Thanks to Greg, I am now hooked and I am not sure that is a good thing. I just love these plants. I had to share this beauty that he said is called Frosty Patterns (Russian) enjoy.


This plant has leaves that are so long, they curl up and are just beautiful. I am not sure what to do with them because I hate to cut them. I wonder how long they will actually get and how curly will they continue to be. This is a whole new experience that I am loving.

Very pretty JB!

Thank you.

It does seem very happy JB! You are in for much enjoyment - be careful!

Here is a shot of three more of my Streps still in full bloom 9/13/13. Amazing, Beautiful, Enjoyable...wonderful house plants.

Left to Right: Spin Art, Wow and Frosty Pattern (Russian)

Still looking great JB!

Mine are finally starting to look good again as the weather turns cooler. Mine always pout a lot during the hot summer months.

Karen

JB those look great! I really like Wow!