You're welcome Maureen! I'm not great with "web-stuff" but the one thing I do know how to do is edit my page. It can be so frustrating! And I don't have anyone to help me. Good luck with it! HW

The people responsible for approving memberships and adding the ability to join certain forums have very busy lives outside of HT. They get to it as quickly as possible. Members don't have to be logged in to read, only to respond. I don't bother logging in unless I have something to say. There's a big difference between HT and GW. HT is privately owned. Two very busy people do the best they can and don't earn a penny for their efforts. GW is owned by iVillage where people are paid to run this forum. They both provide great services to us for free.

Hi Jen, I didn't know you wanted to grow slipper gloxes. I have had them on and off for years. The best way to get them is to grow them from seed. That was how I started with gloxinias back in the early 70's. My mom got a packet of Tigrida strain gloxinias as the free packet with an order from Parks. She grew them and had about 70 pots (these weren't slipper types though). So, after the summer, she boxed up the tubers from Chicago and mailed them to me in Berkeley. At the time I had greenhouse access at the university, so I, quite the neophyte, potted them up and put them on the benches to sell. They sprouted from the tubers and also grew very well from broken leaves or crowns. So, I did sell a few, driving around to a few plant stores, but mostly I grew them and eventually took them home. I don't have any of those originals now, though I think I might have some plants that still have some tigrida in them. Anyway, the slipper form is the orginal species form of speciosa. Sometime in the late 19th century, the peloric form was discovered and hybrids have emphasized this form ever since. But, all along, there were slipper gloxinias still being grown. They just sort of died out in the trade. AGGS does have quite a few different strains of Florist Gloxinias or natural collections of Sinningia speciosa that are slipper form. All of the natural forms of speciosa are slipper types and then there are the ones Komi mentioned. Plus the 'California Mini's' are a dwarf strain that contains both slippers, semi-pelorics and peloric small growing gloxinias. One of the parents of this strain is a very nice mini slipper with very dark purple flowers, called 'Elvira', which I still have. In fact I just found the plant outside on Friday. It is quite small, having survived outdoors all winter. But, I will put down leaves pronto! I have been doing a poor job with my speciosas for a long time. But, I will look around and see what's still alive and get cuttings down for you. From seed, you can have blooming plants in as little as six months. All parts of the plant will propagate from cuttings very easily, and seed is very easy to set. They are propagating fools. Jon

The problem is nobody has to spend their money with you, attracting the favor of their custom might be impacted adversely. Ornamental plants is a frivolous expenditure. With taxes, insurance and other obligations seeming unavoidable shoppers aren't likely to appreciate encountering an attitude from nurseries. There are methods being used to identify those who bounce checks etc. When you open for business you have to deal with everybody who pops up and what they might be about, that's just the way it is. The alternative is you are mostly ignored and go out of business - a common experience. A big part of it is a lack of general interest in specialty or unfamiliar goods, for instance I drive by a small Greek "bistro" and a pizza joint next to each other as part of my regular travels. Saturday night the parking lot at the pizza place was bursting, next door there was not one car. Especially if you want to appeal to a niche market you have to shout you are there and may have to bend over backwards to serve those who do respond, rather than try to attach red flags to some of them.