Miracle houseplants

Fuzzy, friendly gesneriads are easy to cultivate and reward your efforts with luxurious blooms.

By PAMELA DAVIS, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2000

[Times photos: Mike Pease] This streptocarpus was exhibited by Kathy Spissman of Tucker, Ga., at the annual convention.

TAMPA -- Maybe it's the fuzzy leaves or pleasing blooms. More than likely, it's how darn easily these things grow that makes everyone fall in love.

Known as "miracle houseplants," gesneriads (jez-NAIR-ee-adz) have lots of fans. More than 150 of them attended the American Gloxinia & Gesneriad Society's international convention in Tampa last week. The public was invited the last two days to buy plants and gawk at show winners.

You may not think you know what gesneriads are, but you do. Even the most uninitiated have heard of African violets, the best-known members of the family.

There are more than 2,000 species of gesneriads. Common ones include florist gloxinia (Sinningia speciosa), lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus), goldfish plant (Nematanthus), cape primrose (Streptocarpus), flame violet (Episcia) and Cupid's bower (Achimenes).

The family was named after Swiss botanist Konrad Gesner, and most of the plants are from tropical and subtropical regions, growing in humus-filled rock crevices or epiphytically, on tree branches. About 85 percent of gesneriads have fuzzy leaves.

"They are fabulous plants," said Barbara Matthews, vice president of the Tampa Bay Gesneriad Society, the sponsor of this year's convention. "Most of them are very, very forgiving. And there's such a huge variety from which you can find something you love."

Bill Price of Vancouver, B.C., won for Best Saintpaulia and Best Fibrous for this African violet.

Indian Shores resident Tani Freiwald fell madly in love with the Achimenes grandiflora Purple King. She so adores it that she wrote a short story about it. Freiwald visited the plant sale on Saturday in search of more.

"They're an important adjunct to our household," Freiwald said about her particular gesneriad. "They bring us a lot of joy. We like being ostentatious with them out in front so other people can see them. They're good for showing up the neighbors."

Purple King sneaked into Freiwald's life about 14 years ago when her mother "was given the strangest little plant she'd ever seen in her life," Freiwald recalls.

It wasn't until about three years ago that she and her husband took a leaf to a flower show at the University of South Florida and found out what it was.

"It grows into this spectacular, enormous, trailing plant with blooms that are about an inch and a half long," Freiwald said. "I've been propagating it and giving it away, because my dream is to cover all of Pinellas County with Achimenes grandiflora Purple King."

That's another reason people are attracted to gesneriads: the propagation factor.

"These plants are very easy to share," said John Boggan, a Smithsonian Institution botanist who attended the convention. "It's easy to take just a single leaf of a plant, hand it to somebody and have them grow a whole new plant from that leaf, usually in less than a year."

Boggan said gesneriad is his favorite plant family.

"There's something about the furry leaves that really appeals to me," he said. "And don't tell the orchid people I said this, but orchids look awful when they don't have flowers on them. With a lot of gesneriads, if you took every flower off this plant, it would still be a beautiful plant. In a lot of cases the flower is the frosting on the cake."

Small starter plants sell for $3 to $5 and can be grown indoors on a windowsill or on a plant stand with fluorescent lights, or outside in a hanging pot.

Matthews has more than 100 gesneriads, most of them growing outside. She has some hanging under a mulberry tree, where they're exposed to filtered light.

Her favorite plant is the Sinningia Tinkerbell.

"I love the bloom," she said. "I love the fact that it's pain-free. It just sits there and smiles at me year-round. It's a total joy to own."

Matthews' growing skills were challenged by this spring's drought. Sheltering her plants from the hot wind was her top priority. Lots of them suffered, she said, and some went dormant that have never been dormant before.

In addition to gesneriads, Matthews also has "a whole yard full of stuff. Inside, I have a few ordinary houseplants that have been there forever and are part of the family. Gesneriads have pretty much taken over my available space."

Matthews offers first-time gesneriad growers these tips:

Start with something simple to grow, such as Kohlerias. "They are a good bet because they are colorful, last a long time, and if they go dormant, they come back again. They can be grown indoors or out, depending on your conditions."

Use a very light African violet soil mix. "In Florida, you need something light and porous so it does not compact and the roots can breathe."

Think about using a clay pot. "Some do much better in clay pots because it keeps the root cooler. Plants that grow tall and tend to get top-heavy do especially well in clay pots."

Keep them evenly moist. "Don't let them dry out, but don't drown them, either. Don't let them sit in water."

Gesneriads such as violets need extremely high light to bloom. It's optimum for them to be under four fluorescent light tubes.

What separates gesneriad growers from everyone else?

"The key to the people here is they're not stopped when a plant dies," Smithsonian botanist Boggan said. "If a plant dies, they will just keep on going. A lot of people have a plant die on them and decide they have a black thumb and never grow one again, whereas the rest of us are very persistent. We say, "I'm not going to let it get away with that,' and we'll pick up another plant, maybe the same one or something different, and just keep on trying."

The Tampa Bay Gesneriad Society furthers the study of gesneriads, provides education and offers the public an opportunity to learn about and obtain the plants at various sales during the year.

Visitors are welcome at meetings, which are held the third Saturday of each month (except February and March). The group meets at 11 a.m. today at 402 W Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa. The next meeting is Aug. 19. For information, call JoAnne Martinez at (813) 963-7424.

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