John: We found another hemiboea at pretty high elevation in Taiwan last summer, where the summer temperatures seem more like the UK, so I'd be interested to hear how this genus fares for you. Conversely, the titanotrichiums that we found in Taiwan were from warmer areas and they may need the summer heat to pick up winter hardiness. As for Sinningia leucotricha, we just potted 100 seedlings and will run some hardiness trials, to select a good outdoor clone. The clone we currently grow in the ground doesn't have the most silver leaves, so we'll be selecting for that trait combined with winter hardiness. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John Grimshaw Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 12:05 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] terrariums The hardiness of Sinningia leucotricha in the Atlantic States is remarkable - everything about it appears to scream 'not hardy'. I shall have to consider whether or not to risk one of my old tubers here... I greatly admired Tony's Hemiboea when at Plant Delights Nursery last year, as well as several other Sinningia spp & cronies e.g. Titanotrichum. They all clearly need experimenting with over here, but my suspicion is that many will find our summers too cool for their liking. John Grimshaw Visit John Grimshaw's Garden Diary http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com/ Dr. John M. Grimshaw Sycamore Cottage Colesbourne Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 9NP Tel. 01242 870567 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Avent" <tony@plantdelights.com> To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 4:47 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] terrariums > John: > > Gesneriads have been a real focus of ours as well. Sinningia leucotricha > has been hardy for 5+ years for us as well with a low of 9 degrees F and > no > mulch. This is just one of many sinningia species that have proven winter > hardy in a similar period. Another gesneriad that has been a real > surprise > is Hemiboea subcapitata, which turned out to be hardy in Zone 6. We are > working with two other species now to see their potential. I hope more > folks will trial some of the great gesneriads outdoors. >