maybe a S. eumorpha? Another pic

That's not quite what Dad had (his were shaped similarly, but were larger and less delicate), but S. eumorpha is absolutely lovely-- and one for the want list! Thanks for linking the picture!

well you inspired me to go back and look at the AGGS seed fund listing, and they have S. speciosa blue slipper, lavender slipper, red slipper, pink sliper... and so on. Looks like this is maybe where you should go?

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

Thank you guys so much! I'm off to get the computer worked on, but I'll be in touch again when it's back from the shop.