Archive for July, 2008

Here are some other interesting crosses to try: Use the handsome, white-veined, green-leaved S. regina, with nodding purple flowers, as the seed parent; for the pollen parent, any of the wide-faced newer hybrids. Try a cross between tiny S. pusilla and white-flowered S. eumorpha.

Use the pink slipper as one parent, a large white-margined pink hybrid as the other. Or work for all-pink hybrids by using the pink slipper and a deep rose self from the large-faced hybrids. If you favor dotted types, try a pink slipper and a pink-dotted tigrina.

Commercial seed houses pay up to $400.00 an ounce for gloxinia seed. To command so good a price, your seed must be of top quality; in a wide range of colors; specialty seeds from unique crosses, or species seed. To interest firms in your merchandise, take 35 mm. slides of your gloxinias while they are flowering, include a slide with each inquiry, and do not expect it to be returned. These firms are too busy to attend to the remailing.

If you grow but a few thousand seeds you may want to sell them as I do: hybrid slipper seeds to individuals for $1.00 per hundred; to wholesale firms for $2.50 per thousand.

Landscaping lights add a touch of color to your gardens. By using landscape lights in your yard, you not only add security to your home, you also add beauty and style. You can add lights to any landscape design. Installing lights in your front or backyard is an easy chore that almost anyone can do himself or herself.

Added security

Yard lights are a great way to give yourself a little added security for your home. Lights will brighten darker areas in the yard as well as making it easier to see steps or offsets in your landscape.

Accenting the garden

A great way to enhance your garden area is by installing lights. You can find all kinds of different styles of lights to enhance your landscape design. Lighting fixtures for the yard are usually inexpensive ways to add charm and style to any area. These fixtures make a great feature in rock gardens and flowerbeds.