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nwgatreasures

Plant Sale Pictures

nwgatreasures
14 years ago

Here's some pictures from our plant sale on the 25th/26th of September.

This was my van once the flowers were loaded:

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This was the collection from my AVF (African Violet Friend) Carol and me... (that is NOT Carol or me in the pictures)

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This is one of the standards - that I don't know the name of now :/

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This is a Charita Tamiana, part of a club project we have going on:

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Comments (25)

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Here's some more from the sale....

    This is one of our members and his Epecia, "Faded Jade"
    {{gwi:374658}}

    Optimara Maui
    {{gwi:374660}}

    Optimara EverGrace
    {{gwi:374662}}

    Pixie Blue Trailer (this one is mine and going in the fair next week)wish the picture quality was more clear :(
    {{gwi:374664}}

    Another display - EverGlory (mine, also potential fair entry once it is groomed)
    {{gwi:374666}}

    Happy to share them with you....
    Dora

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    HI Dora,
    Really nice plants, and wow that is some sale table. I hope you sold out and made big bucks.
    fred in nj

  • inlovewithhoyas
    14 years ago

    Dora,

    Thanks for the pictures they looked really nice. I wish I had my little cups lined up like yours they look so pretty.

    Nae boston

  • trailer_gal
    14 years ago

    Dora
    Thanks for posting the violet pictures. They are just beautiful. And, Pixie Blue, was wonderful. Never knew that one would get so large, thought it was a semi-miniature trailer. Now, that is the way African Violets should look.
    Sherry

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks everyone....I went with 195 and came home with about 30 so that isn't too bad.

    My AVF went wtih about 60 and came home with 22 so that ain't bad either :)

    @ Sherry - yep, it's supposed to be a semi - however, I keep pinching those crowns and it keeps spreading....that plant is about a year old and I have come to enjoy trailers more than the regulars lately. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have something like that Pixie Blue to wake up to every morning either, does it?

    Dora

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    @ Fred,
    I think we sold a little under $1000 worth of plants and supplies.

    One thing that I am focused on now (moving forward towards the plant sale we will have in the spring) is that "John W Public" wants a standard to purchase because when they hear the word African Violet - they think of standard. They aren't educated that other kinds exist. We need to have something for them to come in and be familiar with so that they will be at ease and be open to exploring and learning about other kinds.

    With that said, my AVF and I are going to focus a bit more on growing some standards and let the other members grow whatever they want. No one contributed more than 10 plants anyway.

    With this much lead time, and given that I have about 50 leaves of some great standards that I got from Travis' Violets (hi, Travis) this past spring at the DAVS convention in Chattanooga, TN.... we should be ready with about 125 standards in bloom.

    The question now becomes....do I want to do that and if so, where will I put them all once they start getting bigger and into a 3 or a 4 inch pot?

    Dora

  • irina_co
    14 years ago

    I sold oodles this weekend on our Show. Saturday the sale tables were mobbed, Sunday - a combination of a Church in a morning, Rockies game in the afternoon and Broncos in the evening - dampened the sales.

    My observations - people want finished plants. They will go for a smaller plant in a bigger pot and a mature plant versus a young one. Just opposite of what I would do. I sold my show plants too. And you need to have them blooming - even starters. It also helps to stand near the table and ask what people want. We were lucky - we had our "Violet Showcase" stand in a sales room - so you help a person to find what he/she wants on the long table - and then lead them to the pots and soil supply. It gives plants much better chance of survival - and people - to become hooked.

    I.

  • larry_b
    14 years ago

    I was also at the Denver Gessie plant show and sale. I wasn't a host like Irina, I just came to see the plants. I also wasn't going to buy anything, because I am a little overwhelmed with the plants I already have. But a Petrocosmea was calling me. "Larry, Larry, come buy me Larry." I just couldn't resist.

    Larry

  • bspofford
    14 years ago

    Great job, Dora! And yes, exactly WHERE are you going to put those 125 standards?

    Barbara

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    Dora,
    All the plants we sold at our show and sale were mostly in small pots. I had many in 3oz Solo cups. If it didn't have a bloom on it we put a FC2 label with a pic on it. Most of these sold for $3.50, these were starter plants. If it was larger and in a 3 or 4 inch pot with bloom on it we sold them for $10,00 and up depending on the size of the plant. I was at a show judging and was able to pick up a blooming plant of The Alps for $7.00 which I know was a bargain. I guess what I am saying is that standards don't always have to be large plant specimens. If a person is a violet hobbyist a small plant is preferable. For the non grower who wants a pretty plant for their kitchen windowsill we bought from a commercial greenhouse a few dozen optimaras in 4" pots that were in full bloom. That seemed to satisfy the folks who wants something pretty to look at.
    Fred in NJ

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks Fred - I really value your experience and opinion and you always are such a source of knowledge on here and through private email.

    Other suggestions and experience are valuable too :)

    The reason I'm gonna do some standards are because the average Joe/Joanna off the street doesnt' see a mini/semi as an african violet. They are not educated and when they come to an AV Sale - they want what they know to be a violet....

    .....unless someone is moved by the uniqueness and beauty of one of the mini/semi.

    This is the 3rd sale that I've participated in as part of this group, the second as President. We are committed to improvement each time. This one was over twice what any of the others ones were so we are getting better.

    One of the reasons we used the clear plastic sleeves is because it was the best place to adhere the FC2 sticker to. This way, if the plant was not yet blooming (what we promoted as 'starter plants') then the buyer could see what it would look like when it got bigger/more developed.

    I had an EverGlory on 'display' and had about 15 of those plants for sale because people saw that and said, "Do you have that plant?" and I was ablet to sell it that way. I could have sold 50 of the Pixie Blue Trailers, had I had them.

    We have other members who will have plenty of semi/minis at the next sale. My AVF and I are going to focus on standards so that the person who walks in off teh street for a violet will be able to choose from the standards that we have and we feel certain that we'll be able to get most of them to teh blooming stage for this next sale. This past time, about 30% of mine were blooming.

    We had about 12 full size standards (with at least 3 rings of leaves and blooms) and they sold out within 1 hour of the opening...that is why I'm thinking that having more standards would bring more sales because the average buyer doesn't yet appreciate the semi/minis....but people will buy when there is no bloom, especially when there's a sticker w/ a bloom picture.

    I also beleive its better to have 25 each of 10 different varieties than to have 250 different varieties for sale.

    Dora

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    Hi Dora,
    I agree that it is nice to have 25 plants of 10 varities rathner than 250 providing the 10 varieties are attractive enough to catch the publics eye. I would rather have fewer of the same variety and have a larger choice for the public to purchase. What happens if one of the hybrids you chose is a dud and people don't like it. Then you are stuck with a couple dozen plants of one ugly hybrid. As for the FC2 labels, they are always a plus. I remember years ago when I brought in leaves to a sale with the labels on them, that was the first time it was done for a sale in our club and they were the first to be sold becuase people could see what they looked like at maturity.
    Fred in NJ

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I agree about the quality of the plant attracting attention.

    here's an example of what I'm working towards:

    I had my Pixie Blue Trailer in full bloom on the display table. I believe it was/is magnificant. We used the display table to give a brief educational "tour" of violets and naturally, people wanted to know did I have "that plant" for sale. I only had 4 and they sold out within the first 20 minutes of the sale. If I had had 25 of those same kinds of plants (even in starter stage), I could have sold them because people could look at that and see what they were getting and "could" eventually have.

    I will only choose plants that I get really good results from and have already had experience from. I've already learned some that I don't want anymore. I've been compiling a list of various ones that I want to have to include in teh sale - they are a wide variety of colors, varigation and types of blooms/foliage.

    If I focus on doing those "well" then the public can have a great choice on what to purchase come the spring.

    BTW, club profited over $300 (before donations) on the sale and growers profited over $700. Two of our growers donated their 30% portion to the club.

    We held our monthly meeting this past Thursday and had 4 people who purchased at the sale to attend our meetings as visitors. One joined on the spot and the other 3 committed to do it in November - we'll see how that works out :)

    Increasing teh quality and quantity of plants is how we are going to build a good reputation in teh community. We do not have a large enough following or community participation to warrant puchasing from a grower yet. We leared a lot from this sale and will put those ideas to work for the spring one and keep getting better.

    12 months ago, there was a sale which had 47 plants and only half of them sold and the club was peddling their junk at a garage sale to earn money. We had active 9 members.

    Our new focuses became:
    -educating the public about our group and violets,
    -welcoming visitors to our meetings and making them want to return
    -focusing on only selling violets at a plant sale
    -providing visitors/members the highest quality of supplies for their growing needs
    -promoting membership and personally inviting visitors to join us (as opposed to announcing to visitors that membership is not required)
    -making the business portion of the meetings limited and as effective/efficient as possible.

    we currently have 28 actrive members and my goal is 33 by Dec 31st.

    I keep thinking back to the sage wisdom and experience that you shared with me going into this venture and I will forever value that wisdom.
    Thanks,
    Dora

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    Dora,
    I remember so well how you began with great trepidation. I am so happy that things have worked so well for you and your club in such a short time. I think that once you get the crew on the road to recovery, everything falls into place. Hopefully it will continue with great success. I know that my local club was strujggling three years ago and then one of our members located a new venue for us to have our show. Since then it's like a breath of fresh air has gone through the group. We have picked up members at each of the last two shows and now we are over 20. The main problem that we have found is drawing in young people who have the time and are eager to help with all the work. Our current president has been teriffic, in spite of the fact that he is our eldest member, (beats me by a year) he has the interest and energy to do a great job. Like you he has put a lot of time and effort into making the club a going and growing club. Keep on doing what you have been doing.
    Fred in NJ
    BTW are you going to the convention in Raleigh next spring?

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Re: going to convention in Raleigh.

    I am seriously thinking about it. I'm trying to get my AVF to make a road trip with me but nothing has been cast in stone yet.

    will you be there? That might persuade me more, LOL

    Dora

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Just wanted to share that my Pixie Blue trailer took first place in the class at our local fair.

    I'm pleased with that but I am even more pleased that our little violet group had 8 people to participate and we earned 23 blue ribbons, and all together, over 30 ribbons. Not bad for a group who has only ever had 1 person to participate, huh?

    I'm so proud of them.

    Dora

  • larry_b
    14 years ago

    Dora,

    Congratulations! Pixie Blue is my favorite violet. I'm glad you have a nice plant that could take that prize.

    Larry

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Here's a pic of my plant before I dropped it off at the fair entry:

    {{gwi:374667}}

    Now...all the blooms are removed and I've administered the Marathon and given the leaves a good but gentle bath. I bet this poor plant wonders why I'm punishing him by keeping him isolated?

    He'll be back blooming in no time.

    Dora

  • lathyrus_odoratus
    14 years ago

    It's very lovely.

  • irina_co
    14 years ago

    Super cute!

  • tommyr_gw Zone 6
    14 years ago

    Super sweet!

  • okie_deb
    14 years ago

    Dora it's no wonder you received a blue ribbon! Your Pixie Blue is gorgeous! I will add that name to my wish list.
    Thanks for sharing your pictures and taking us to the sale with you through pictures and posts!
    I will have to see if I can find out if Oklahoma has any AV shows ever.,,,,Debbie

  • bspofford
    14 years ago

    There is a club in Tulsa. On the AVSA website, check the 'affilliates' listings for clubs in neighboring states also. It's a great way to plan a vacation!

    Barbara

    Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA website

  • nwgatreasures
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    @ Deb...thanks :) that Pixie Blue is my favortie plant right now because it is so fun to grow. Fred got me interested in trailers...LOL and I owe it all to him ;)

    Last year, I was growing about 10 plants for the fair and didn't get my timing correct (depending on advise from another person in our club) and they were full of buds that weren't open yet. ten days after our fair - OMG! what beautiful plants I had....didn't help me for the fair though :/

    this year, I was prepared and educated and I was growing about 5 seriously for show (having put forth a good bit of effort growing for the sale). Someone asked why I only entered 1 if I had more.

    There were 3 people in our group who I had been encouraging for the past 6 months to grow for show/judging and I finally convinced them to enter their plants. It took a lot of coaxing to get them to even do it. Their plants looked good. I had the same plants and mine looked good too. I wanted them to earn blue ribbons more than anything to build their confidence so I didn't enter mine.

    Would mine have won over theirs? I don't know...I just wanted them to win blue ribbons more than I wanted to win.

    I got what I wanted, and so did they. They beamed when they talk about their ribbons and that makes me smile.

    I'm going to grow for the DAVS show in Athens, GA this coming spring and enter there.

    Take care everyone, I'm about to have scarce time in the next 2 weeks for the board. (not that you can't carry on without me, LOL)

    Dora

  • minimac
    14 years ago

    Hey Dora,

    Your Pixie Blue is beautiful! While at the OSC I was in a workshop on trailers. The instructor passed out plants that needed a lot of help. We just happen to get Pixie Blue. It was in sorry shape (after we got done with it even worse!)We had no idea what we were doing. Don't think I had ever seen one so had no idea what it was suppose to look like. Had a water bottle that I was drinking out of and just happened to poke down 4 of its leaves. Now I'm glad I did. Came home put them down. Hope they make it after seeing yours.

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