Sinningia ‘Kevin Garnett’

5 Comments

I’m bringing back the Daily Botanical feature. Since I stopped doing them regularly I have sorely neglected to write about the new and interesting plants that I am growing or run into in my travels. It feels like the right time to bring them back.

The Sinningia you see in bloom here was the topic of a Daily Botanical dating back to September 16, 2010. It is only because I have this record that I now know that it blooms annually literally to the date.

I recently name-checked Sinningia in an article I wrote for HGTV on houseplants for college students that are both easy to care for and cool. Sinningia is an African violet relative that is just as easy to grow, if not easier. In fact, my entire African violet collection has been slowly wiped out since moving to this house. It is too dry in the winter and my windowsills are either too dark or too bright. I just don’t have the conditions they need anymore.

Meanwhile the Sinningia thrives. I overwinter it in the basement underneath lights. The leaves die back to the tuber, and then come back in the summertime. I keep mine planted high in the pot so that the tuber is exposed (another feature that makes this plant so cool) rather than buried.

Neat huh?

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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5 thoughts on “Sinningia ‘Kevin Garnett’”

  1. Interesting name and what beautiful leaves! Pardon my ignorance, I’m wondering if it was named after the NBA player by that name?

  2. I saw the article where it got name-checked, and I wondered if it was named after the pro basketball player, and now seeing it here, I am obsessing over the same question.

    Any insight into who it is named for?

    • As I said to Beth (above), I have no clue. I didn’t even know there was a basketball player with that name so… I wouldn’t be surprised if it is named after him as breeders often name after people they admire.

  3. I LOVE KEVIN GARNETT, and I think it’s hilarious if this flower is named after him! He’s enormous (6’11” or 2.11 meters) and intense and has a mean face, and he’s a terrible trash-talker. But he’s an awesome center.

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