QUESTION: A friend gave me a gloxinia with purple and white flowers as a Christmas gift, and told me it’s a houseplant that’s easy to grow. How should I take care of it?
Gloxinia is in the plant family of gesneriads, a family that includes hundreds of tropical blooming plants. Many of them have found favor as houseplants – including their more familiar cousins, African violets.Florist gloxinias (Sinningia is the botanical name) are favored for their showy, trumpet-shaped flowers and velvety leaves. They need sufficient light to grow and bloom well, says Julie Mavity-Hudson of the Tennessee Gesneriad Society, so placing them near a south-facing window with filtered light (not direct sun) is ideal. If that’s not an option in your home, you may be able to provide the light they require to bloom by placing them under a two-tube fluorescent fixture. Gloxinias do best in average room temperature, with the soil kept moderately moist.
While they have been grown as perennial plants that die back and return after a period of dormancy, it’s good to know that most gloxinias from florists and retailers are hybrids that are grown as annuals, bred to be showy for awhile but not long-lived – a brief but lovely life. The bloom period may last about two months, then the plant will begin to fade, so don’t be disappointed that it may soon look ready for the compost bin.
And if you want to explore more about the family of gesneriads, check out the Gesneriad Society web site to learn more about these beautiful and unusual plants.
Filed under: Blooms, Houseplants, Indoor plants | Tagged: African violets, blooming plants, gesneriads, Gloxinias, Sinningia, velvety leaves | Leave a comment »