What a pretty blossom. Those Russians can be large.

ooooo! gorgeous!!

Su, I will be glad to send you leaves the next time I send you stuff. Did I send you Beauty Goddess? Gentle May is one of my favorites. It is clean and simple. It has bright green leaves that grow symmetrically and has a simple, large clear pink double blossom. It has been voted

"the best" by visiting friends who don't realize that violets are "supposed" to be purple! I made the mistake of offering a violet of her choice to a visiting house guest, she took that, so I have reordered it a few times so as to never be without. I never know what a house guest will try to slip into her tote bag when I am not looking!

Beauty Goddess is more of a wild woman. The foliage is a darker color and it tends to form two crowns. It is one of my favorites for the blossom, as it blooms freely and has nice size, fluffy blooms in a deeper shade of pink with ruffled edges. It is large, though.

The Russians are carefree and give a lot of bang for the buck.

Joanne

joanne- yes i have beauty goddess... is this one Gentle May? you describe them so well!! ;)

It could be, I don't recall, the photo was taken a long time ago. Someone recently found it. If you don't have Gentle May and would like it, I can send it. It is a a lighter, brighter pink and with a better behaved growing habit. Probably, my favorite of the pinks. (I tend to like a classic look in solid colors.) Anyway, welcome back! Lancaster County is pretty in the spring/summer! Glad you found a nursery and violets. We are off for the weekend now, catch you next week. I am keeping a short list of leaves to be sending you in a few more weeks once my plants recover a little, and me, too, from other trades! Joanne

What a beautiful flower!!! I can see the glitter! Rosie

I keep telling myself that the O's I have been grabbing off the store shelves are for my club's sales .... we shall see in two weeks what is left ....

Seems to be a love/hate relationship we have with Optimaras! I guess because really they are the most (and only!) violets available at a reasonable cost! And they are pretty. IF you can get the store to get some in. grrrrr

Joanne are ya sure a few leaves didn't find their way into a propagating case???? I mean, after all SOME leaves may have broken off in transit,,,,,right? That way you can still donate the whole plant and STILL have a little leaf to grow!!!!! lol

Oh bragu,,,,seems that the tomato cage and mulch would have been thrown in the back and the violets lovingly place wherever I could put them! Violets Rule!!!!!! But that is just me. haha! Rosie

Hi,

I love Optimara plants. Where I live, Optimaras are plentiful in the local stores and even with the garden clubs.

Our local AV club is going to have a sale soon. I have been buying Optimaras at retail prices to grow and donate for the club sale. I have been buying more of the Optimaras because the local store gets a fresh shipment every day with new selections.

I keep a few Optimara plants on hand at home so that when guests want a violet but my own are not ready, then I can give them an Optimara.

Yes, it is a good idea to save a leaf from each plant to propagate.

On this forum, in the past, before my time, the impression may have been created that there was some rivalry or competition between O and other companies.

Optimara sponsored and helped to finance the AV show a couple of years ago in Nashville. So that probably put an end to any feeling of competition.

Joanne

Hey, we are all snobs in some ways...

i'll tease people about growing pink AV's, and then i look at my shelf and ooops, there are a bunch of pink ones....

same with optimara, though with those the joke is on me... seems i can keep almost anything else alive BUT NOT the hardy optimaras.

My AV society appears to look down at them, but once you get chatting, everybody has at least a few they treasure....

yet, named optimaras are pretty hard to come by, it seems, since selective gardener doesn't ship to canada (that i know of). and (us) snobs frown at IDing plants - though what other blue ruffled, variegated plant are you going to find at a grocery store other than O. Modesty? or how to mistake little azurite? yeah, the reds are iffy, but i think people should loosen up on the "obvious contenders"....

Karin

Karin, I know, you used to joke about Barbie Pink. Glad you have seen the light! (kidding!) Maybe Optimara are simply more suited to the local growing conditions. most of mine are grown in calif, not in Nashville, so they are adapted. I have two separate collections, the optima's that i buy locally are on their own shelving. That collection is at least 1/3 of the total.

when i calculate the total, i don't include those, unless talking to optimara people.

As we were discussing a few weeks ago, the original AV club seemed to have developed independently of Optimara who did not want or need any help to go for the gold, so to speak. The AV club is mostly for hobbyists, not truly commercial.

this forum may have focused on non o plants years ago because they were hard to grow and hard to find.

then many other chat groups started to discuss the specialty groups, so this forum became kind of an optimara forum. then optimara developed their own FB and blogs and websites, so they meet all needs, basically.

in my own av club, they give equal time to discussing o plants and selling more o plants than the harder to find ones because o can be ordered year round in any quantity for any occasion.

well, thanks for your prompt feedback, and if i am not out the door in one minute, i will be late for work ! cheers!

Joanne

Joanne I didn't take your meaning to say that you didn't like Opt.s Opt's really are the only thing available to the masses. Not everyone can pay leaf + shipping price. For me Ebay is out of my reach on a great day.

I have more fun trading and honestly a small plant/leaf means more to me if I know I got it from a kind trader/gifter than just buying it out of a catalog. I just can't afford the catalog. At this time. Honestly I wish I could just write a check and say "send me one of each and 3 of everything! lol

Joanne and Karin, I love the history and backstory you give when you post.

Both of you (and alot of others) make for a very interesting read!

And we chat about the things we do with our plants. That makes it really just so nice. In fact, once I figured out how to use this new forum I like it better. It seems to be more friendly. We chat more.

Some very generous persons helped me by giving me leaves and plants when I mentioned my furnace outage this winter. Lost a lot. And I am grateful.

In return,,,, I have gifted some leaves to help a couple others get started, kinda like a "pay it forward".

I am sorry that some people left over mundane issues. We all have our own opinion and as I stated prior,,,,,the bad thing about typing our responses is you can't see the person's face to "read" what their intent really is. It does make a difference.

I will ask if I don't understand the intent of the words. I don't get huffy first. In fact, I probably won't get huffy at all,,,,,I will just talk to someone else!

But the people on this AV forum are so nice! Love ya all!!!! And no matter where we get the violet from, no matter if it came with a name or not, it really doesn't matter,,,,,as long as it is loved!

My daughter moved to Clinton Tennessee (speaking of Optimara!) and she is about 2 hours away from Nashville! Good thing I drive a full size truck! roflmbo!!!!!!!

Ya know, I think I am rambling again. Sorry. Will check in a little later!!! Rosie

Karin, I recall when you went to your first meeting and the local hybridizers gave you a hard time about having noids. It probably was because they were the actual hybridizers. It also probably depends on the location, with you having more famous people and varieties there.

My first mentor was a little like that, but if it was not explained about the various types of AVs, how is a person to know and learn? It took me a long, long time to be convinced. She had to actually buy me some plants before i saw any reason to branch out more.

My local club was a completely different experience, they seem to give equal time and attention to Optimaras. Again, probably because we are a little club with no hybridizers any more. Years ago, there were some, but they either passed on or moved.

Rosie, today, on my lunch break, my lunch buddy and I went to the local store to check out the new shipment of Optimaras. Between us, we helped several customers pick out some plants. We gave them care tips and decorating advice as to which colors looked best together. I like to observe what people want to buy. It helps me know what to pick up for resale. Some vintage looking light pink ones are being passed over in favor of the more vibrant, newer color combinations. The vibrant purple singles are good sellers and seem to be the foundation of a collection when people want to add some other color combos. Joanne

Joanne, when I am at Lowe's I spend alot of time helping customers pick out landscape and flower bed plants,,,,not to mention house plants! lol People approach ME,,,,I don't butt in to their conversations. And they always end by saying "Oh I thought you worked here!!!!"

The girls always tell me I should get a job there. Yeah, like I have time for that. If I worked there who would take care of all of my hobbies??? lol lol lol.

But really last year I did try to fill out the application online. OMG I must be alot older than I thought! I really struggled to answer what I thought were repetitive and downright dumb questions.

Never asked me about my plant/growing background. And that is all that I was applying for. Then I got the polite rejection letter.

That is ok. Someone has to stay here and look after the babies!!!! lol Rosie

Joanne,

well, that first meeting didn't go all that well, but when I went to their show a few weeks ago, suddenly everyone knew me from the other society. And some people even commented on "my" Facebook group :-) I'll have to watch it or they'll rope me in to be more "active" ;-p

I think when a person first goes to an av society meeting, there is hesitation on both sides, and in retrospect, newbies can easily appear as freeloaders, wanting to get started with named varieties and having nothing to contribute, nor being able to assure proper care...

I still scour the stores, wanting to replace my optimara romance (?), but am not all that serious about it anymore. I also want to replace a few anthoflores noids, but even less luck with that. Who knew you couldn't count on a store to carry them forever. It seems orchids are the big ticket this year....

What stores carry here is boooring. The same four varieties over and over. White, red, Barbie, and blue. And millennia in a few guises (I think I bought at least two, maybe three, then kept wondering how I mistook this plant for the other when they all ended up blooming the same :-p )

There are a few interesting ones that crop up here and there, but I'm never sure if those are optimara or harster. I know optimara has a raspberry edge pink, but I've also seen a pink with blue fantasy (not little Hopi) and a few others that don't fit into the optimara mold.

I kick myself for not buying mySunshine when I saw it at a farmers market. The yellows seem to be creeping into my collection. Fashionable, I guess. Besides, there's this "thing" about hybridizing a true yellow ;-p

Anyhow, I'm rambling....

Karin

Hey Karin,,,glad to know I am not the only rambler on this forum! Rosie

Let's face it, we're all here because no one else will listen to us go on and on and on about African violets ;-p

Karin

Rosie, I forgot you worked for a nursery or florist! I know what you mean, those on-line applications are a pain, they have nothing to do with the actual job skills needed. I remember you said you might go to Nashville when visiting your daughter.

Hey, Karin, It is always so hard to break into something new when you are "the new kid on the block." They were so set in their ways that they were rude to you when you went to that first meeting! No need to make excuses for their unwelcoming behavior! They are supposed to give samples to newbies! Now that you have "proven yourself" you are the "hot rising star!" If pink is Barbie, Yellow must be Ken ... too chicken to show his face!

Sorry to hear there are no exciting collections for you to choose from right now.

I think Optimara made up a bunch of names just to keep consumers happy and encourage us to think of plants as pets. If it was up to Mr Reinholdt, no doubt they would have been named something like "patent pending no. 100176498." The names are simply a marketing method. For example, orchids are named cross gobbledygook XXX cross gobbledygook.

The local store where I snag all the blooming O's carries two kinds, one type are identified , labelled Optimaras, the others are NOIDS that look like Optimaras but match nothing on the I.D. website page.

For example, I got a saturated wine red fluffy double with tiny flecks of white on the edges. It is very attractive but does not exist on the O i.d. page.

Another NOID looks like a chimera. The outer stripe is dark inky blue. The center stripe is light inky blue color. Nothing at all matches it on the O i.d. page.

So .... are these samples from Optimara new product development nursery?

I know what you mean about Millennia or is it Anika? Nothing causes me to go more cross-eyed that trying to distinguish what is the difference, if any, between the bicolor reds and whites.

I was so glad that other customers bought them so that I did not feel obligated.

The smudgy purple/white or blue/white patterns are not so hard on the eyes to try to tell apart.

I got what could be Julianna, but it is light blue, the color on the i.d. page is lavender. And two of Hiroshige, one is almost pure white, the other matches the photo. These three are lovely, tidy, evenly colored blossoms, all the same size, shape and color.

Those are just a few examples. After a long time of no new or exciting O varieties, suddenly, here are a lot of new ones being offered.

Joanne

chuckle - and im one who just picked up four boring Os recently! :-P the one lookslike Natalie... one looks like Cindy... one is a red simply because i have never seen a red in person and it kinda reached out and bit me... and the other is a sweet white pansy with a pink blush... which was on the discount table for only .99... and who can turn that down??!!

Karin... i have one that is possibly O. Romance... are you interested in the three older leaves i just threw away yesterday? they are perfectly crisp and happy... they just looked beat up so i pinched them.

My Gesneriads · More Info

My Gesneriads · More Info

Beautiful Variegated Africa Violet!

Thanks Rosie, but I'm in Canada, and I know people closer to home whom I could beg a leaf from....

Besides, as I was discussing with a friend yesterday, as crowded as my shelves are right now, I am always relieved when I don't find what I am looking for....

sad but true.

I still salivate over "possibilities", but i now have to decide which plant I would get rid of in favour of any new one.

I nearly got suckered in by robs four(five?) trailers for $20 offer, but then realized that'd be nearly 1/4 of my available space - once they go into 6" pots that is.

Even though I have none he lists right now, only one of them I actually have on my wish list. And I could have gotten it for $20 shipping from someone on Facebook. - which proves I don't want it that much...

So for now I just enjoy "window shopping" :-)

Karin

Karin

I understand that! I enjoy window shopping too. ;-) I just did a count on what space I ACTUALLY have available... and I think I can grow 25-30 standards comfortably... and about 50 minis and semi minis. SO... that means I can probably grow out all of the miniature leaves I have down, but I cannot keep all of the standards. I have 20 standard plants right now and thirty more leaves. In a year I will probably end up pitching or giving away most of what I have right now, simply to make room for varieties that I like better. I'm going to be cramped for space for a little while though, just because I don't want to make a rash decision about which to pitch.. so I want to at least bring each plant to bloom at least twice before I decide... It's a sad thought to have to think about getting rid of some... :-] But yes, anyhow.. all that to say that I have officially entered the "window shop" stage! ;-)

Su

Ohhhh,,,,I just love reading all these posts! Karin, I am sooo past salivate I have to wear a bib to catch the drool !!!!!

Part of my problem is I don't worry about available space. Or go into the future and wonder will it fit in??? I just jump in. And somehow it all works out for me! I must admit though,,,,,unlike some of the post I read I only keep one of every kind. I don't have multiples of the same variety. Unless it is in the baby growing, gonna find a home for stage.

Su your new violets are delightful ! They were the first thing I saw this morning and they are beautiful!!!!!!! And I agree with you,,,a bunch of numbers on the label don't mean as much as a name does! AND easier for us to remember!!!!!

I will tell you one thing Joanne (yeah just one thing??? what a hoot!!!) when I go visit my daughter I will have saved up a buttload of money. She says Optimara is about 2 hours from her and that is the only place I am interested in seeing in the entire state of Tennessee!!!! (Course in my opinion she really needs to move back to Michigan. I miss her. Yeah I know she is mid 40's but she is my baby and I miss her!)

ANYhow! Karin last fall our local library had a very small new "garden group" form. It was only designed to last about 6 weeks. I found out about it after 4 meetings already passed but I was there for the 5th. When I walked in, there were only 4 others. I made 5. Everyone brought bulbs they dug, starts of stuff wrapped in damp newspaper and one lady even brought quart jars of jam! I thought it was just a "discussion" type meeting. You know, talk, compare notes on how to everything about gardening. Boy did I feel out of place! I brought nothing. But you know, they made me feel welcome anyway, and when they asked "anybody want this or that? I also have this or that at home I can bring next week" of course I said nothing. Without blinking an eye,,, the ladies didn't exclude me from the giving! I felt funny and tried to decline but they acted like I was part of the trading! I ended up bringing home jam and lots of goodies to plant. And I asked them would they like some of this or that from my yard that I would bring to the last meeting. I brought a boatload of stuff for the last meeting and I was so sorry that they wouldn't keep it going thru the winter. I guess the whole point of this is,,,,had you come to a meeting that I was a member of I would have still sent you home with a bunch of stuff. I would have gone out of my way to make you feel welcome. AND this is not a hindsight statement,,,,I have belonged to a few groups that I came to realize were hmmm, well I guess the word is "uppity". While I was there I still made newbies feel welcome and once I really got the hang of that group I decided I could and would live without them.

This forum is welcoming, kind and generous. And I try to be the same way when I see someone who would like to rebuild their lost collection or just plain can't afford to buy+ship. Been there,,,understand. And I offer what I can. I love this group!!!!!!! Rosie

I do want to make an offer to whoever might be interested... I have one/two leaves each of the following varieties that I would send out for free... and if you want to send me a few mini or semi mini leaves of your choice, that would be great! I really don't NEED any more, but I know some people like giving too if they are getting free leaves. So, i just thought I would add that... you don't HAVE to send anything, and I don't EXPECT you to send anything... but if you WANT to send something, just send mini/semi mini leaves, because I simply CAN'T take any more standards. ;-) Does that make sense? Cause I'm known to be confusing sometimes...

1 - Red Pansy... may be O. Arkansas (pictured above)

2 - Blue star with white edge... may be O. Natalie (pictured above)

2 - White pansy with pink eye (pictured above)

2 - Pink pansy with darker pink eye... may be O. Cindy (Pictured above)

2 - Vintage pink w/ purple flecks... may by O. Picasso

1 - Vintage purple w/ red-backed leaf

3 - Variegated foliage double pink... may be O. Romance

PM me if you are interested! I can't bear to throw them away... but I can't grow them out. :-]

Although I never had a problem watching Annie on Sunday nights for the originals. for the repeats, sometimes I watch Annie's podcasts from a computer in a library that has a bigger screen and faster access than at home. There seem to be fewer glitches.

Ok, ladies, I am going to stop hoarding my four Manitoba's and am taking one to the office today to give to a friend who has been begging for two years for me to find her a beautiful light blue. I have grown out all sorts of leaves from light blue, but none have bloomed yet. So, who can argue with a huge Manitoba blooming like a a hydrangea bush! The light bulb went off, and I suddenly realized that the light blue she had in her memory from years back was most likely Manitoba, as it is an oldie.

I am a standard grower, mainly. Manitoba's get very big! She likes big plants. I gave her a bunch of Russians a few years ago that are thriving.

Yes! Rosie! That is the way the groups are supposed to be, that is the purpose of a group!!

Karin, Uh-oh, trailers need 6" pots! Are they supposed to be rare and exotic shallow bulb pots that can only be purchased on line and you have to buy 50? BTW, yes, that original group "should have" showered you with leaves or plants once they learned you did not have any of theirs.

Su, The top one is Nathalie, You are at the stage we all pass through, deciding whether to maintain a smaller collection, or caving in ... it is a personal decision. Glad the Red one Bit you. Check with your neighbors. At this time of year, I put up a message on an electronic bulletin board. I was able to unload 30% of my collection when I was at your size and we were moving. One person took ten trailers to a local senior citizens lunch center. Some gave me swaps, I promptly gave away. Joanne

Joanne,

you're right, trailers ought to go in shallow pots. But they're tricky to find, and buying a bazillion on eBay to make it worth the shipping seems silly. So for now I buy 6" azalea pots at lowes, and just fill the bottom with perlite. Smaller pots work too, but they grow out of them pretty quickly, and I find the 6" pot to be a nice size...

I had some in bonsai pots, which was cute, but they outgrew them, and they wouldn't be ok in a show, except for the decorative container class (uh, when did I start worrying about showing plants?).... Besides, the bonsai pots are hard to water evenly. Seems the edges always dry out...

Duplicates, yes, there are a few to get rid of. But I had mealies earlier this year, and want to make sure I'm well over them before passing anything on!

Karin

Karin, Now I get it. When you have trailers, they spread, so the perfect companion is minis.

"Many a true word is spoken in jest!" (Regarding the comment about shows!)

I will ask at my club meeting what they do for trailers. The Ramblin' Dots are really cute. I don't want to give up on them too soon. But there was a reason that others passed them by at a violet sale. They were about all that was left on one table after the hordes descended then departed.

I just remember that one trailer I had that someone "innocently" gifted me with that took over an entire spare bathroom.

Thanks for the F/B. Joanne

ooooo - the revenge of the bathroom trailers! :-P that statement about taking up an entire spare bedroom really made me chuckle. my active imagination had fun with that one....

ROFLMBO We could make a movie out of the idea of the trailer that took over the toilet! (I know,,,gross title,,,but then I think it is funnier that "bathroom." Rosie

Did I say bedroom? I meant bathroom. It sat on a counter and got diffused light through a window. It was in a spare bathroom, so it was not checked that often. It soon took over the counter area. Because it was reflected in the mirror, it looked double in size. When I finally realized what it was, when we moved, I took it apart and got about 20 crowns off it. I think DH used the room for showering, so it got humidity but not enough light to flower so it just made leaves. DH does not pay too much attention to indoor plants, they are my job .... so would not know if something was overgrown or not.

The person who gave it to me did so on my birthday so I could not refuse it. She had kind of a mischievous look in her eye. She had a florist shop where I bought many plants. She thought she was doing something wonderful. It had little dark green pointy leaves and tiny pink flowers on long tendrils. It looked innocent but it was a vampire.

From that experience, I learned that the words "No, thanks!" are a full sentence!

Off to work again or I will be late!!! Joanne

lol Joanne, sounds lovely.

i like them because you can do more with them than hope they grow symmetrically. others think they grow too big and aren't a nice tidy crown - to each their own!

Karin

I have never heard of those two words before, let along used them when it comes to violets (or many other things!). aybe someday you can explain them to me!!! lol Rosie