Welcome to Our Website! 

We are the New England Chapter of the Gesneriad Society, a non-profit, 501c3 Massachusetts based organization for hobbyists, horticulturists and all who love, or want to learn about, or share, information about Gesneriad plants.  

Come join us!  We meet on the first Sunday of the Month from October thru June.  December's and June's meetings are held at members' homes for our Potluck Holiday Party and our Potluck Picnic. 

Next Event:  Saturday September 21st and Sunday the 22nd - Our Annual Plant Show and Sale at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in West Boylston, MA.  Plants to be entered in our judged Show must be brought in on Friday September 20th between 11:00AM-3:30PM.  

Here are the 2019 Show Schedule and Entry Forms. 

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We have just added a lecture to our 2019 Plant Show and Sale:

Exploring for Gesneriads In Indonesia
Sunday September 22, 2019 from 2:00PM -3:00PM 
​Tower Hill Botanic Garden's Theater

Wisnu Ardi, is a horticulturist and plant systematis from the Bogor Botanical Garden on the Indonesian island of Java. He has participated in more than ten plant collecting expeditions in remote areas of the islands of Java, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi (Celebes) and Moluccas. He has discovered several new species of begonias and recollected many more for advanced study. He has published many articles in scientific journals and is working on A Guidebook to Begonias of Sulawesi.
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Begonias and gesneriads share the same habitat. When searching for new species, one is a good indicator that another might be close by. Gesneriaceae is a large plant family with over 2500 species and 150 genera. Many are familiar with the most widely known gesneriad, the African Violet. Indonesian gesneriads tend to be under appreciated, but recent expeditions have resulted in the discovery of new species of lesser known genera such as Cyrtandra and Agalmyla.

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Judy Becker

Sad News

Peter Shalit, Editor of Gesneriads - The Journal for Gesneriad Growers, has informed us that Judy Becker, one of our members, and a long time member of the Gesneriad Society, a former Registrar, and Commercial Grower, passed away August 19, 2019. 

She was very knowledgeable, and was a great teacher, willing to take the time help you understand, grow and show great plants.

She was involved with the Connecticut Orchid Society as well, and the Hartford Courant in March 2003 quoted her at a show she helped organize: "There should be more out there than a lecture for people to go and sit at," Becker said. "And if you want to help people get educated, you have to do more than stand and look at your own flowers."

Judy, you will be missed greatly.