Seemannia (syn. Gloxinia) 'Little Red', Hardy Gloxinia

Dark purple-green leaves with even darker impressed veins form the low, mounding backdrop for brilliant red tubular flowers. It succeeds here as a houseplant, at least in winter, and would be a dramatic plant in a pot whose foliage is more than sufficient when not in bloom. In our climate, bring it inside in winter; this is a relative of the African Violet but not that tender.  Our plant was a generous gift to us from John Boggan of DC Tropics during our 2014 trip to D.C.: "Parentage is (S. nematanthodes x S. purpurascens) x S. nematanthodes. The dark foliage comes from the S. purpurascens parent, a dark-leafed seedling I grew from a batch of wild-collected seeds (all others having plain green leaves)." - John Boggan  "Seemannias require fertile, well-drained soil that stays neither too wet nor too dry. They will grow and bloom in bright or dappled shade but perform best with direct sun for part of the day, preferably in the morning or late afternoon." - J. B. Pictured with variegated foliage of Alstroemeria psittacina 'Variegata' Please note that Seemannia bulbs are SMALL. If they are dormant when we ship them do not lose them among the soil mix! See the pics of the soil with the bulb. Minimum temperature: 15° F