Kohlerias make great show plants

The "Best in Show" and "Runner up to Best in Show" at the Puget Sound Gesneriad Society 2010 Chapter show were both Kohlerias: K. amabilis var. bogotensis 'El Crystal' and K. 'Tropical Night'respectively.























Both were grown by me under a 4-tube T-5 fluorescent fixture (high light).
Below is a brief video portrait of each plant.

Puget Sound Chapter Show March 2010

Our Chapter Show, co-hosted with the local African Violet club, is a high point of the year. It's our chance to show our plants to the public, educate them about gesneriads, give them the opportunity to purchase starts, and maybe even get some of them to join us. Lately we've held our show at a retail nursery, Swanson's, which gives us a vacant greenhouse for four days. This is a great space at no cost and provides free publicity as well as serendipitous visitors who discover us while shopping for spring bedding plants.

Awards of Appreciation - Gesneriad Society

The Gesneriad Society's Awards of Appreciation Committee is seeking nominees for the 2010 Awards. Selection criteria include: importance of service, chairing of projects, diligent behind-the-scenes work, faithful contributions of gesneriad articles for publications, and other accomplishments of merit. Recipients are honored at the annual Convention of the Gesneriad Society. Each awardee receives a handsome certificate, a writeup in Gesneriads, and a Life Membership in the Society.

2009 awardees: Paul Kroll, Julie Mavity-Hudson, and Paul Susi.

Below is the list of past awardees. See if you can think of someone not on this list who should receive an award. Please email your nominations to me and I will forward them to the Committee. Thanks in advance!

Here are more pictures of past Awardees.

2008: Dale Martens and John Littner Clark

2007: Suzie Larouche, Bob Stewart, and Dee Stewart

2006: Arleen Dewell and Alain Chautems

From Judy Becker

A poem arrived in my inbox the other day from Judy Becker.

Happy New Year.
the snow is snowing
the wind is blowing (with gusts to 50mph)
and the fluorescent lights are glowing
over gesneriad seedlings that are growing

Judy is the proprietress of Lauray of Salisbury, a wonderful establishment that grows and sells gesneriads, orchids, begonias, cacti and succulents. Judy's greenhouse is half way between Bob's mother's home in Connecticut and my dad's in Massachusetts, so we try to stop and visit and shop when we make a pilgrimage to see the folks. Lauray is a wonderful place to find those plant treasures you can't do without, even if you have to bring them 3000 miles on a plane to get them home.