October 27, 2012

Seemannia in the garden

Another gesneriad that summers well in the garden is Seemannia.  These are photos by John Boggan of some Seemannia hybrids growing in his garden in Washington, D.C.

Seemannia bed

These are John's newest creations: complex hybrids involving Seemannia nematanthodes 'Evita', Seemannia purpurascens 'Purple Prince' and Seemannia gymnostoma. John is testing them for use as bedding plants, and hoping for some relatively hardy hybrids. He says he is going to leave them in the ground (!) -- with mulch -- to see if any of them will overwinter.

I especially love the combination here with Tricyrtis 'Sinonome':

Tricyrtis

Last year, he had his hybrids Seemannia 'Big Red', 'Little Red', 'Red Prince' and 'Dark Prince' in this garden:

Seemannias

Click on the photo above to see more information on John's Flickr page.