Hey Anne,
Wishing you luck and in doing so I'm hoping a little karma will come my way. I grow all sorts of variegated violets. Buckeyes, Robs all have done well. The greens with creams, pinks, yellows etc. do very well,(anywhere I place them on the light stand, but I have some white and green Mac's that just drive me crazy! . I don't lose variegation (I grow cool) my issues I believe have more to do with light. Their leaves will get all bunched up or curl or don't lay flat. Some say the variegates need to be placed in the middle of light stand, that they need more light. Seems with these the more light- the worse they got. Not long ago I tried giving them much less light hours and further away from bulbs and that seemed to have done the trick. They are behaving much better. Sometimes you've got to make your own luck. Just remember that not all the "tips" may work for you. Keep on experimenting till you find what works with your growing conditions.
I'm glad you made the plunge, too! I still have my eight noids that I started out with and wouldn't think of giving them up. I can always count on them, even when Mac's Rhapsody isn't Rapturous or Infared isn't Incredible. My old Noids will make me smile.
Let us know how things are growing.
Good luck,
Mac

Best of luck Anne! There's nothing quite as satisfying as seeing those first few leaves poke up through the soil, then separating the babies and having a new plant. I tend to buy established plants because I'm impatient, but it is nice to see mouse ears pop up.

Good luck, Anne! I don't really think all variegated ones are harder either. Some may just be a little bull-headed about 'greening' up.

I agree with Mac about the noids. After awhile, you may get tired of "Beautiful But Fussy" and appreciate "Old Reliable" ;). I wouldn't mind having my old 'noid' (undoubtedly an Optimara/Rhapsodie from Lowes) that was just a plain dependable boring plant.

Oh yes - I have noticed that violets don't read and they don't follow instructions very well either :D. Candy Fountain is grown in the chilliest window in the house but it doesn't show any more variegation in winter than any other time. Fredette's Risen Star (a favorite) is beside it and is always variegated.

It's not really that difficult. (Don't tell, but I've even poked around to see if they were coming up.)

Diana in PA

Thanks for the encouragement you guys. It's good to know that variegation doesn't necessarily mean a hard time starting them or growing them. I do still like my NOIDS - I have about 25 of them and wouldn't get rid of them just because they have no I.D., but I have been seduced by some of the photographs posted on this site. ;-) I've been drooling over Blue Dragon for quite some time...Eeeoeleven's current thread just reminded me how much!

I just opened my little box from Reed's and the leaves look great. I got as a bonus "Rebels Night Breezes." :-)
Royal Rage is a simply bee-u-tiful leaf, BTW!!

Question: do you all as a rule let the leaves rehydrate in tepid water before potting even if they don't look limp? Wouldn't it be in their best interest to be as plumped up as possible before I put them in the potting mix? I'm thinking I'll cut the stems per instructions and pop them into some clean cups for an hour or 2 while I eat my dinner and then pot them up after.
How exciting!

Anne

Hi Anne,
I only plump them if they seem limp to me. Other than that I put them into my light soil mix and cover them to retain humidity and to isolate them.
Fred in NJ

Thanks, Fred. I guess I didn't need to, but they didn't seem to be the worse for it when I potted them up - nice, crisp stems when I cut them on an angle before inserting them in the mix and then bagging them. One had some damage and wilting on the end of the leaf so I cut that off, leaving about 2/3 of the leaf intact. Should still be good, right?