Partly this is a matter of preference. I've seen many LLG and big box (Optimara) show plants, and seen them take best in show. For tight rosettes, I find Violet Barn (Rob's) are good, but their flowers are much smaller than LLG's in general. When it comes to minis and semis I think Hortense Pittman is amazingly good. Her plants tend to bloom well and behave. I'm fond of Buckeye (Pat Hancock) violets for standards. They have good foliage and large flowers. Her plants tend to be capable of growing quite large as well. Overall, between Pat Hancock, Hortense Pittman, LLG, Violet Barn, and Optimara, I don't know that any is really any "better." They all have different styles, and all have hybrids that can certainly be grown into very good show plants. Of the shows I've been to by far the best plant was an Optimara. Perfectly symmetrical with more blooms than leaves, but people seem to dismiss Optimara because they are sold in big box stores. My suggestion is don't worry about the hybridizer so much as how the plant has done historically at shows. If you're a member of AVSA, check out the "And the winners are" section in each magazine, and once a year they publish a list of the best performing plants. Hybrids like Harbor Blue, although old, are still among the best. Other good hybrids include: Frozen in Time, Ness' Crinkle Blue, Irish Flirt, Rob's Chilly Willy, and Precious Red among others. Hope this helps.

Mark

Hear, hear -

you can grow a show plant out of majority of the AVs available - work through the book by Pauline Bartolomew on the subject - and Optimaras do good.

But I think people snob them because a lot of them are just plain boring. All the frills and doubles and variegates - are less durable - so they cannot be used for shipping to big box stores - so it is not practical for them to choose them for production.

i have an optimara that breaks leaves off if i even look at it crooked... so far i only have one other 'brand' - anthoflores, which is struggling. but then it was at the store for upwards of two weeks (that's how long i was debating on buying it), it had terribly dense soil, and it's my only variegated plant so far. It's suckers are growing wild though...
i have put together a list of leaves to buy from bloomlovers in spring - and the local av society has a meeting on hybridizers next week - i was planning on checking them out anyways, now i think i almost have to go. I am hoping someone from ACA's violet tree will be there, they are the best known hybridizer in the area - maybe they'll bring goodies =D

Mark & Irina, great guidance, I will follow up these suggestions. Thanks! Joanne