Welcome, missjennie. You will find lots of information here. Everyone is very helpful. Ehjoy your time here!

Hi Jennie,
When i was teaching in High school I helped the science teacher with a unit on growing AV's to one of her classes which was doing a botany unit also. If you need any suggestions or information on growing and rejuvenating plants feel free to email me. I have a couple sheets of info that I distributed to groups that I spoke to.
Fred in NJ

Hi & welcome! :-)

Welcome Jennie,
I've been taking care of business while life moves on so my welcome is belated.

How addicted are you to this hobby? LOL
(meaning, how many plants do you own?)

And how do you do your learning module with the classroom. One of the goals of our local society this year is to take a program into the classroom. I'm interested in whatever information/experience you can share.

Thanks and welcome :)
Dora

Hi missjennie, welcome to the forum. You have some a wealth of knowledge here when it comes to African Violets. There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum who love to share their experiences.

Thank you for sharing your info with us. We look forward to seeing you post often.

Dave

Hi all....Dora, I have 21 plants at home, plus approximately 20 leaves started. At school I have a half dozen small plants. We threw out approximately 40 plants at school after the furnace malfunction. We learn different methods of propagation, and leaf cuttings are one. For some reason, in the fall a group of kids got totally into the violets.

Fred, I am going to take you up on your offer of info sheets. I am always looking for more resources.

Jennie

Jennie,
(because inquiring minds want to know, LOL)

which ones are your favorite? Do you have a lot of NOID (no i d/name) or named ones?

and Fred's handouts are perfect. He shared with me when I first came on board here and they are the best generic handout with accurate/easy to comprehend information that I've ever seen. And Fred is a great source of information himself.

Dora

I actually only have one NOID left. Those got wiped out at school. Everything else is named. My favorites have to be the semi-mini's (Rob's Heebie Jeebie, especially) but I also have a standard, Ma's Toxic Spill that I quite enjoy. Actually, I haven't met a violet that I don't like!
Three of my plants are Blue Boys, as an older lady here in town decided I should have them, as Blue Boys were the original violets brought out of Africa. I have had them almost a year now, but no blooms yet.

Jennie

I think your friend may have been slightly mistaken about Blue Boy.
Blue Boy was actually one of the first hybrids a.k.a. cultivars.
"The genus Saintpaulia, and original species S. ionantha, were scientifically described by J. C. Wendland in 1893."
References:
http://www.optimara.com/optimaraglossary/b-blu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saintpaulia

-Adam in NH

Hi, missjennie,
I also teach 9-12 science, and use gesneriads to teach horticulture. I keep almost all my plants in the lab at school. I love that class. It's always a little scary, though, as the students tend to over-water (a lot), so I lose a lot of plants that way. They did some hybridizing this year, and the babies have just sprouted. I'm excited to see what they will be. I use the societies How to Know & Grow Gesneriads as my text, and have a small collection of books on the subject that they use, as well. I also keep links on my portaportal web site. Are you familiar with portaportal?
Carol