You went and got it!

My guess would be Dolly...

Here is a link that might be useful: Dolly on MyViolet

This post was edited by froeschli on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 21:20

It looks like Dolly but this edge is blue. As blue as any AV is ever blue
Ever Precious is frilled so it can't be that?

Maine II? If optimara

Congratulations! lol. It is beautiful! The way you were talking I knew you would bring it home!

The leaves are more Dolly and the color is more Maine.
I would opt for Dolly given the habit

I like the flowers, with that penciled edge.
I chose one with lots of suckers :)
Many more plants to trade and give away.

Here is a picture with leaves

That's definitely not Ever Precious. Ever Precious has wavy leaves and the flowers are more frilly.

Has anyone grown the Space Violets? What are they like?

Dolly is not listed by Optimara as being in production; Alaska, Maine II, and Chico are. My guess would be Maine.

This is Ever Precious and I think it's one of the best space violets.

TerriLou
That is beautiful. How big is it? Pictures are hard to tell what the size is. How easy is it to grow? Does it bloom well? Fred Hill stated in a post that the Space Violets were more leaf than flower although yours seem to be an exception to that.

I like Big

Oops, Diana was correct. It is pictured exactly on the Anthoflores web site. There is a red edges one also. Does Anthoflores sell Optimaras or is that their own hybrid?

This post was edited by lucky123 on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 23:56

The Ever Precious is about 10" across. Under my conditions, the space violets grow similar to any other AV. They do have large leaves, but to me are very attractive even without flowers. EverGrace produces many blooms at one time & then will rest. I grow it in natural light; Precious is grown under grow lights and blooms constantly for the most part. I also grow EverSpecial & EverGlory and have had others in the past. They are worth a try.

Anthoflores violets are grown by Harster Greenhouses in Canada. They are a different line than Optimara, although many look similar. Years ago, Harster had a fine website with pictures and names of their violets but let that go for some reason. Its been stated that most violets labeled as "grown in Canada" are Anthoflores varieties, although Optimara does have a couple of Canadian outlets including WoodHill Greenhouses. Its all confusing!

Terri

How about Chico? My Chico comes out with a pencil thin purple edge and then it kind of morphs a bit and spreads out and the blossom gets bigger and more blue. (Oh yes, I just sit and watch it.)

I think I have a plant from a leaf of O. Maine but one baby is solid purple and the other didn't bloom yet.

I don't know about the Anthoflores. I just know they are on that site. I'm still not sure what the red/white one is that I bought but I know there was a blue-edged one then. Those were in awful shape so I can't say if it looked similar.

I have about 6 Chicos at the moment and the leaves look very much like the little one sitting in front of the under a bag. DON'T ask.

Diana

wow, that ever precious is just stunning...now i know why i need to start buying named varieties ;)!
i found this large pic page of bi-blues; on the bottom you can switch to bi-reds too.
very good to see variations of color side-by-side.
i think chico has a wider blue margin and it goes all the way to the center and heavy on the bottom, while maine's center is white and blue stays thin and only on outside.

Here is a link that might be useful: large bi-blue opti pics

That page is nice but Optimara forgot you need to look at the leaves also to make an identification. Chico is frilled; Maine is not listed as frilled. The leaves are different. Chico is variable so don't count on the width of the blue edge. (Look at Maine's photo on MyViolet. It's not all white inside.)

Put it up on the Optimara ID FB page and see what they say.

How big is very large? 6" pot? It could be Maine then since they claim Chico is small but it's not really very small.

Diana

Diana
On the Antheflores web site, the plants in that photo are in colored plastic sleeves.
I have noticed that AV's from that store are in those sleeves lately.
This plant came in a blue sleeve exactly like the one pictured
Does Optimara's have that sleeve/cache pot?

It is a 4 inch pot but the plants is 13-14 inches across. Looks like a young plant, first bloom cycle. I didn't realize how large it was until I tried to park in on the usual window sill.

I just don't know, Lucky. That's what I ran onto too. The plants were in those pink and blue slip pots and when I got home, they didn't quite seem like Optimaras (I got a couple of plainer ones too). I checked out Harster and the store had also had a bunch of a peachy double that is def. not Optimara. It's too bad I didn't buy the blue one so we could compare.

My red-edged one is a small growing plant. Things were so damaged that I started leaves and the other two are still babies. When I found the Optimaras, they were from Canada but not in those pink and blue covers (thanks, I'd forgotten that detail).

One was a very velvety looking blue and I hope it blooms because I want to see if it lives up to memory. The other was just a purple single but I was looking for Kentucky so it's probably not staying.

Maybe it is the Anthoflores then. I did try emailing them about the red but they didn't answer.

Diana

Just fwiw, here in Canada you rarely find AVs that don't come in a plastic slip pot. Anything at the grocery store and Walmart. Here, the only store that sells anthoflores is loblaws, and their slip pots are fancier (kind of a rustic-y design) but they end up costing double what other stores charge. I have one slip pot that's bigger than anything else, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got that one from.
Garden centres and nurseries are typically the only places where you buy them without a colourful slip pot.
Sooo, IMHO, those pots aren't necessarily indicative.

Have you read the barcode label? Mine always say if they are harster.

Karin

Karin
There is cultural information. 65 Degree Nights but I don't think that is its name, now that I examine it closely.
The only information is the name of the nursery

This post was edited by lucky123 on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 12:09

That "giveaway" one was the peach thumbprint that is shown on the Harster webpage. Optimara doesn't have that.

The batch that came from Woodhill via some St. Catherine's Floral were in slip pots, but not the pink and blue ones and those were Optimaras. Lowe's don't usually have slip pots (the minis had a little one). I only went to Home Depot once and they did have some in slip pots I believe. It's been quite a few years. There is one about an hour's plus drive, but we don't go there.

So do we have to torture you, Lucky? What is the name of the nursery?

Diana

Diana
I can't make it out. The Bar Code is very wet and wrinkled.
I can make out "rsery" at the end fairly clear but the rest, nothing.
The bar code is on the bottom of the pot.

This post was edited by lucky123 on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 13:39

Oh. Okay :). I mostly forget about the bar codes (getting them out of those pots when I'm tired) but they never told me anything when I remembered. I know others have had luck with them.

The more I look at mine, the more I think it's the Anthoflores, not Harlequin.

Diana

i just went thru a lot of pics and i noticed that 'pen N ink' looked very close to OP violet. i have no idea who's growing it and whether it's available, but it's on avsa site.

This post was edited by petrushka on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 21:04

OMG, do you realize how depressing it is to think that Pen 'n' Ink actually does resembly O. Chico and an unnamed Anthoflores?

You are right, although it appears that the leaves are somewhat different (I'm looking at an alternate photo in FC2). I've never grown it so there may well be differences that we don't see in a photo.

Diana

no, i don't realize, but then i am still in NOID phase so the finer points are lost on me ;).
why is it depressing?
i looked at FC2 pic - yah, leaves are more quilted. but i noticed on many newly bought plants leaves are smaller and smoother. given more light and time they become more quilted and even change color depending on growing conditions.
i like pen n ink as much as opti chico or maine II or anthoflores - just by appearance. not much info on pen, though. is it old variety, poor bloomer?