| Achimenes |
| Achimenes are a group of rhizomatous plants, mainly from Mexico and Central America. They are easy plants to grow, pot them up let them bloom and when they start to die down in the fall, let them dry out and shake the dirt off and store them for the winter. I start mine a little early and by mid-summer have blooms until frost. Achimenes comes in a wide rage of colors, red, purple, orange, pinks, whites and almost every color between. They have a multitude of common names such as Magic Flowers, Widow's Tears, Cupid's Bower, or Hot Water Plant. I grow all of my plants except the orchids in Miracle-Gro outside during the summer. The main thing with these plants is to not let them dry out during the hot part of summer, as they will wilt and stop blooming. Below are some of my Achimenes: |
| Achimenes 'Ambroise Verschaffelt' - this plant is probably one of my top three picks for these plants. It grows with a cascading habit, making it great for hanging baskets, has large lavender/blue flowers with incredible purple netting and a little yellow in the center. The color seems to vary according to how much light it gets, more light and it fades to a pale white and the netting isn't as spectacular. |
| Achimenes 'Peach Glow' - a nice upright plant with peach/pink flowers with a clear yellow throat. I have grown this one for several years, it does better some than others. When it blooms it is amazing, covering itself in lots of bright peach blooms, it seems to glow. |
| Achimenes 'Tracey Thornley' - this one is a problem for me, I love the huge pink bloom with the deep burgundy throat markand it is an upright. The problem is that it doesn't bloom well for me, 3 to 5 bloom a year. I have had it for several years always had the same problem, that being said I do keep it, because of the beautiful blooms. I crossed it to A. 'India' it to create a couple of hybrids, one has the same large blooms and willingness to set seeds. |
| Achimenes 'Purple Prince' - I bought this several years ago at Wal-Mart in a little container that said add hot water and you will have blooms in a month, it took a little longer but it is definitely worth the wait. Upright plant with large purple blooms with a pale throat. |
| Achimenes 'Yellow Beauty' I bought this one in March 2009, it started blooming the first week of June and bloomed through the second week of September. Cascading foliage for hanging basket and a heavy bloomer, with bright butter yellow flowers and orange/red spotting in the throat. Highly recommend! |
| Achimnes 'Vivid' - I bought this at the same time I bought 'Purple Prince' at Wal-Mart. It has a nice upright habit with bright bubble-gum pink flowers. It will literally smother itself in blooms, one of the reasons it is one of my top three. It has either sported or crossed to 'Purple Prince' at some point as now I have some in the same pot that are a soft lavender. |
| Above - Achimenes ('Tracey Thornley' x 'India') I made this cross a couple of years ago and they just bloomed in 2011. The seedling have lot of variation from being purple to bright pink and that was only from the 3 plants that bloomed! I have about 25 of these different seedlings, should be impressive this year. I crossed the largest one (left photo) to Achimenes 'Cattleya' and have a bunch of seedlings popping up now under lights. |
| ©Brad Walker, March 19, 2014 |
| Achimenes 'India' - Large blue/violet flowers, the pollen parent of the above hybrids. Easy to grow, upright plant with lots of blooms. |
| Achimenes 'Red Elfe' - I love this little plant, small plant with lots of small bright pink flowers. I have had this one for at least 4 years and it always has lots of blooms. |
| Achimenes unknown - I bought this a couple of years ago at the Tennessee Gesneriad Society show and sale, they weren't sure of the name. It has large medium purple flowers with white throat markings, fairly tall upright plant, reproduces rapidly by crawling and producing rhizomes. Possibly grandiflora?? |
| Achimenes dulcis - A beautiful little plant with soft, furry leaves and an incredible white bloom. I will keep growing this just because I hope to use it in a breeding program. |
| Achimenes 'Sunburst' - A small yellow bloom on a trailing plant, I like 'Yellow Beauty' much better. |
| Achimines 'Harry Williams' - I bought this a couple of years ago, it is a very tall, upright that I stake to keep from falling. It blooms well and has pinkish/red bloom with a yellow throat. It is as tall as my A. pedunculata. |
| Achimines pedunculata - I bought this several years at the Nashville Lawn & Garden show at our booth. Some years it grows and blooms well (2013) and other years it won't bloom and goes to propagules. If you ever see it in bloom, you will want it! A tall plant with the blooms held a good 15 to 18 inches above the pot. The flower color is bright orange with a yellow throat and almost red spotting inside. |
| Achimines glabrata - Honestly don't know where I got this, 2013 was the first time it bloomed, but I have had the pot for a couple of years. Maybe I grew it from seed and forgot about it. If you ever see it in bloom, you will want it! A trailing plant with the smooth, slick foliage. The flower is very large, almost double the size of most of my achimenes, white with a bright yellow throat and purple speckling in the throat. It does not reproduce rhizomes easily but I did manage to get seed and am hopeful to get more plants for breeding. |
| Achimines mexicana - I have bought several different plants that were supposedly this plant and they never were. In 2013 I bought these and was pleasantly surprised that it actually is the species. An upright plant with soft, fuzzy foliage. The flower is very large, lavender with a white throat. This year I will have several pots and am planning on crossing to several of my other achimenes. |