As the race toward winter transpires, some of this family is shutting down and some that are late are just starting. This was Eucodonia 'Adele' today. Not bad, but it would have been a lot better if I could have protected those buds from the grasshoppers.


Achimenes 'Flamboyant' (upper) and 'Prima Donna' (lower) are what can be seen looking out from the dining room.


But they replaced Achimenes 'Yellow Beauty' (top) and 'Gary' (bottom) which are headed into their winter dormancy.


xAchimenantha 'Inferno' has more new blooms every day.


But xAchicodonia 'Shogun', my other red one, is shutting down for the winter.


And here is the first bloom on xSmithicodonia 'Heartland Joy'. It should be at peak bloom around the third and fourth week of October.



There is only one noid that hasn't started blooming yet. Soon. It has buds. It's almost certainly another hybrid between Achimenes and Eucodonia. Still enjoying some that have been blooming for a while. You can see a noid purple Achimenes on the right in the second photo. It's doing well, but has done better in previous years. Still I'm getting anxious for them to go dormant. There's a lot to be done in preparation for freezing weather. I don't quite enjoy the late ones as much because of that. If a cold snap shows up, they have to be protected, along with a lot of other plants. It can be a hassle with a lot of plants. Those that are going dormant can just be piled in a corner until I can get the growth trimmed off and then stored for winter's duration.

So pretty Donald!

Donald, great photo's as always .. you truly have a way with Gesneriads! You have some really beautiful photos in the database and I hope you will consider uploading a couple of pictures showing the plants going into dormancy (with a caption as such.) I think it would be a big help to novice growers who might think their plants are dying and don't realize that they are just going to sleep for a winters rest!

Cupid's Bow (Achimenes 'Prima Donna')

XAchicodonia 'Shogun'

Lin,

I can add photos of them going dormant, but I don't know how to put a caption on it. Do you mean add that across the photo itself? I think I might be able to put a series of the plant going dormant in a single photo and write it across the photo, but I'd have to work on it. That sort of tech stuff is not my forte.

Donald,

After you get to the database location for the plant, click on Upload a photo, once it's uploaded from your computer you should see down the page the different actions/options:

What type of photo is this: Entire plant, Bloom, Leaves, etc.
Date and time photo was taken:
Location where the photo was taken:
Enter a specific caption for this photo: Here is where you can type in a specific caption.

Hope this helps,
Lin