2015 Convention-Speakers
June 30 – July 4, 2015
Gesneriads by the Golden Gate
Ron Parsons: “Botanical Adventures in Colombia and Ecuador”
In addition to cultivating plants, Ron has an obsession with photographing wild plants around the world, as often as possible. In the last four years alone, he has visited many U.S. states, the Philippines, Australia, Italy, Mallorca, the western province of Sichuan in China, as well as Ecuador and Colombia – all for flowers! Ron’s presentation will be on two recent trips: one to southern Ecuador in December of 2013 and, more recently, one to Colombia in August of 2014. On both trips to see native orchids in flower, he chanced upon many wonderful gesneriads and other interesting flora that will be included in his presentation. Ron has co-authored three orchid books since 2004 with Mary E. Gerritsen. The latest is “A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species,” a two-volume set with approximately 1200 pages and 1800 photographs.
Lena Klintberg/Ingrid Lindskog/Maike Lundberg: “Gesneriads with a Swedish Accent”
Over the years, knowledge about growing tropical house plants in Sweden, a country of the far North, has increased. In this talk, you will hear the story of how Sweden unexpectedly became a center for gesneriads in Europe. You will be introduced to some of the hybrids that originate from this distant corner of the world, and you’ll and learn more about the species and hybrids the Swedes grow and love.
Lena Klintberg has been growing gesneriads ever since, as a teen, she met Ingrid Lindskog who at the time was displaying African violets in a dark and damp basement vault under the old orangery in the Uppsala Botanical Garden. Amazed by the variety of colors and shapes, Lena soon became a devoted grower of gesneriads. In addition, Lena has traveled to several rainforest areas around the world to see gesneriads in the wild. She also enjoys photographing these interesting plants and often writes for the Swedish magazine “Gesneriastnytt.” Lena lives in Uppsala, the city where the well-known Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus worked and became the father of modern taxonomy. As part of the program, she will also take you on a trip to the Botanical Garden in Uppsala and to some other gardens in Sweden and northern Europe where you can see gesneriads.
Ingrid Lindskog founded the Swedish Saintpaulia Society in 1985 and the Gesneriasterna in 1993. She now resides in Umeå at 63º 50’ 6” latitude north, growing about 300 gesneriads indoors and three species and one hybrid in her garden. Ingrid has a B.Sc. from Uppsala University, with chemistry, zoology, microbiology and one summer course in botany. She is married with one son and two grandchildren. Ingrid spent a year in New Haven, Connecticut, then moved to Göteborg (Gothenburg in English) where she studied Chinese for eight years, and traveled in China in 1973, 1987, and 1999. She also participated on the 2003 Gesneriad Research Expedition to Brazil led by Mauro Peixoto.
Maike Lundberg comes from a horticultural family. The first time Ingrid met her was around 1988, at a small garden fair north of Stockholm. This young girl came around to the booth of the Swedish Saintpaulia Society (then recently founded) selling lottery tickets for the Blomstervännerna (Flower Friends), an organization in which her parents were active. Their garden, in a rural setting, was a wonder on a steep slope, with a view of the tree tops below. Maike now has her own house in the same area. It is a large plot where as much of the natural flora as possible has been saved. She grows gesneriads and vegetables in the house and two greenhouses. She has been treasurer of Gesneriasterna since 2003 and also has judged at their flower shows. Her first Gesneriad Society convention was 2010 in Vancouver.
Julie Mavity-Hudson: “Take Great Pictures of Your Gesneriads”
Julie will present a program on photographing gesneriads. This program will help anyone who is interested in photographing their plants, even if they don’t have professional gear. Excellent pictures can be taken with many cell phone cameras, tablets, or point and shoots as well as more professional gear. There are many alternatives for lighting as well. She feels there is no reason why anyone should not be able to take decent pictures of flowers.
Julie is currently First Vice President of the Gesneriad Society as well as chair of the Photography and Internet Communications Committees. Since 2000 she has led the Photography committee in the photographing of the winning plants at Gesneriad Society convention flower shows. These images have been featured in The Gloxinian and Gesneriads as well as on the Gesneriad Society website. Julie has been taking flower photos since she was eight years old. She was given her first Brownie camera by her father who was at times a professional photographer himself and loved photographing flowers. She has also taken many photography classes over the years.
Mauro Peixoto: “Brazil Plants and Plants in Brazil”
Mauro is a Brazilian living in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo State. His passion for plants started in early childhood. By age 12 he had started to grow orchids. Later his interests expanded to include the study and cultivation of other families: Gesneriaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Passifloraceae, Aristolochiaceae, and others native to Brazil, especially in the Atlantic coastal Rainforest in Southeast Brazil. His desire to study and photograph plants in habitat led him to travel around Brazil, alone or with other enthusiasts interested in specific plant families. At present he works as a guide to groups or individuals interested in observing native Brazilian plants facing extinction in the wild. In his travels he has discovered several new species and has worked extensively with Dr. Alain Chautems of the Geneva Botanical Garden, which houses an extensive Gesneriaceae collection. For the past few years he has also worked setting up and organizing an herbaceous plants collection at the Instituto Plantarum de Estudos da Flora (Plantarum Institute for Botanical Studies), in Nova Odessa, São Paulo State. Mauro will be speaking on his Brazil Plants organization that he founded in 2007, with help from Gesneriad Society donors, to preserve the plants of his country and distribute their seed. He will also touch on recent discoveries in the flora of Brazil.