Neither looks true. The fantasy-blossomed varieties are difficult to propagate "true" by leaf cutting.

OTOH, what pretty plants ...

Would they maybe be considered sports bc they are variations of the mother plant?

Here is mine and it looks true to all the photos I have seen. The leaves on mine look very different from yours too.

Is there a website that shows the named varieties with their leaves and blooms? I thought I came across one at one time, but can't find it now.

I got my Ethel's Explosion from Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses. They have photos of all their varieties. EE has crown variegation which is a different type variegation than the leaves in your photos. It doesn't show up in my picture but my leaves do have it. Here is a link to the page on Lyndon Lyon's site that shows EE. Hope this helps.
http://lyndonlyon.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2&sort=20a&alpha_filter_id=69

Here is a link that might be useful: Lyndon Lyon

Posted by Perle_de_Or Zone 7 (My Page) on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 1:40

Wow, that site has all the plants I love.

Enjoyed this post as I was wondering myself about "Ethel."
I recently got Ethel's Wild Side from Lyon's. It is in its
first bloom now, very pretty.
Joanne 47

This post was edited by fortyseven on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 4:03

I almost ordered Ethel's Wild Side too. Glad to hear it blooms nicely, Ethel Champion's hybrids must be good plants. My EE is coming back into bloom again after just a short rest. Love this plant.

Hi Perle
I ordered Ethel's WildSide,
LIve Wire. Psychedelic Rose
Joanne 47

This post was edited by fortyseven on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 4:05

Sorry for delay in responding. I also got Live Wire from LLG at the same time I got EE. It has been slow for me, still no blooms on several that I have from the mother leaf. I have heard so much about it, I am willing to wait for the blooms. Psychedelic Rose sounds wonderful.

Hi Perle
Interesting! The Live Wire is doing very well, first bloom
on the starter plant, covered with blossoms. They are
big and bright, semi-double.
EE is also blooming, not as many
blossoms and smaller size. Singles.
(It could be that this is blooming season
where I live, as many of my AVs are in bloom.)
These are from the starter plants from LLG, not
leaves. What else have
you found in that color category that you like?
I read in the book Growing to Show about a
hybridizer named Ethel. I am wondering if
that is the Ethel, as it is an unusual name.
Joanne

Ethel Champion was the hybridizer. I grew all my LLG plants from leaf, which I started last Oct. So that is one reason it was slow for me. I found propagating in the fall and winter season was not a good idea, it slowed them down. I haven't had blooms yet from others that I think will be similar, so I don't know for sure how they will look. I have Rob's Dust Storm and it has a similar bloom to EE but is of course a semi-mini.
I have Marie Lorraine that looks a lot like Live Wire, but it has not bloomed yet either. I expect Kristi's Spunk to have similar fantasy as EE, and it should bloom soon, it has buds. My absolute favorite plants now are Blue Dragon and Mermaid (Swift), also Lyon's Magic Charms. I got all of them from LLG.
I also have B Man's Etna that is supposed to look a lot like EE, but my first one to bloom only had tiny flecks of fantasy. I have three more though, so I am hoping they will bloom more true. Its a great plant though anyway.

Hi Perle,
Thank you for your reply and the information on Ethel and
the other violets you ordered and what you like best.
I ordered four plants in the deep pink color category at the
same time from LLG, all are now blooming for the first
time. Here is the report: Yes, the leaves on Marie Lorraine
and Live Wire look similar. The blooms are different.
Marie Lorraine--bright rose color, 3 large double blooms
on a stalk. Live Wire, large deep pink
semidouble stars with moderate fantasy, 3 blooms on a
stalk. Ethel's Wild Side-- lighter pink single blooms
on a stalk, slight fantasy. Psychedelic Rose-mid-size
double pansies in deeper rose color, lots of fantasy.
This developed lots of foliage and already has a sucker.
It looks like it will be a vigorous leaf-grower. (For that
reason, I would probably not order again.)

It will be interesting to learn how
you like Kristi's Spunk once it blooms. The description said
it was a large grower, so I did not order it as I did not
want a larger foliage plant. *

I have been curious about Mermaid, B-Man's
Etna, and Magic Charms, so thanks for your opinion.
I have seen Blue Dragon in real life, quite lovely.

I know a photo would be worth "the 1,000 words."
I will post photos once I learn how to upload them.

In the past, I also found that leaves I put down in late
fall or winter did not get active until the spring.

I heard on a podcast that the plants will bloom a lot
in later summer. That might be one reason most of
mine are in bloom now.

*(I have a few older plants from
LLG that are now quite large. Before I read this Forum,
I did not realize that I did not have to keep potting them
up, but could have maintained them in a smaller size.)

Perle,

When I start leaves in cooler weather, i put them on a heat mat. It really helps.

Linda

Joanne, Kristi's Spunk has very nice foliage and is about to bloom, I will post another thread about that when I can get some pictures Thanks for your great input.
Linda, I realized later I could have used a heat mat, wish I had known that sooner! I don't have central heat, so used the small electric radiators near the plants but a heat mat was really needed too. It was my first time doing propagation with lots of leaves.

Hi Perle
Hope you see this ... has your Marie Lorraine bloomed
yet? Mine looks different from Live Wire, a different
color. The shading on the petals is more regular.
I think it will
be more consistent in the color and shape of its
blossoms than Live Wire. (I accidentally ordered two
of Live Wire, at two different times,
both are completely different in looks.) My Ethel's
Wild Side is blooming again, it is nice. It looks like
one I was trying to replace from a few years ago,
so I am pleased with it.
Joanne

Neither have bloomed yet, but I noticed today that Live Wire has some buds beginning to emerge. I don't know why Marie Lorraine and Live Wire have been so slow for me, I put the leaves down a year ago. I disbudded my Ethel's Explosion so it would concentrate on foliage and get a little larger. I was so pleased that it bloomed true with very good fantasy.
Kristi's Spunk is coming into bloom and it is just beautiful, I will take a picture when it is more fully open.

My Kristy's Spunk sported - Instead of semi-double fantasy - I have single enormous light light pink with a hint of a chimera. Will see how it is doing at the next blooming.

Irina

That's interesting to know Irina, so far mine is true, and the blooms are huge. I hope mine doesn't sport on me and stays stable. It started getting buds weeks ago and they took a very long time to open.

Hi, While I really like LLG a lot and buy from them most
often, it seems to me that the chimeras and others
I got from them of their own hybrids tended to sport.
The description of Kristi's Spunk said that it was a
large grower (foliage) so I did not order one as I
did not want a large grower. I like the idea of the
huge blooms, though. I will look forward to your pics.
Joanne

Large growers have different size flowers - but I am pretty sure that huge blossoms only come on large standards.

I.

Thanks (acknowledging)
Joanne