Hi, Kelly,

Welcome to the forum. Don't worry, we were all new at this at one time.

On the AVSA website, I don't see any vendors in your area listed. However, there is a club in Vancouver that meets on Sundays, so if you are up for an outing, that would be great. And that club has some fantastic growers in it!

Joining a club is a great way to meet new friends and increase the size of your collection. You will find most AV growers to be very friendly, helpful and generous.

Go to the 'affilliates' listing on the AVSA website for the information.

Good luck.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA website

I expect someone with more knowledge about Canada will be along, but

www.bloomlovers.com

sells leaves and what she calls "plugs" which are sort of small starters (as I understand it). I've bought leaves from Tina 2 or 3 times at least.

Diana

BTW, welcome to the forum and the world of african violet! I often get so involved in finding a link or answer that I forget to say that and we do need new growers.

Somehow increasing my collection was never an issue :D.

Diana

Welcome to the forum. Warning: African Violets are addicting!

The AVSA site Barbara linked to has a wealth of great information. I put in a link below for a vendor search page. You can check out the vendors in different areas of Canada. Although I live in the US, I too have ordered from www.bloomlovers.com and was very pleased with both the products and the way the owner does business. Some vendors aren't shipping right now due to the extreme cold, but that'll give you time to drool through all of the catalogs and figure out what to order.

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA Vendors

Thank you all for the welcome and the tips! I searched on the forum and found an old thread about Canadian growers. Sounds like Bloomlovers is an approved place to order from. I checked out the Canadian AV Society and they have a list of commercial growers. I'm glad as there are societies that do not have growers that will sell to the public. I like begonias too for instance, and while we have a Canadian Society, no actual commercial growers (at least not as of a couple of years ago). As the society is in Eastern Canada, and I'm on Vancouver Island, that prevents me from actually getting to meetings/show so I can buy plants.

I always get a hankering to start a new plant hobby about now. Frustrating as nobody ships now, but plenty of time to think about where to start...

Thanks again everyone...
Kelly in Victoria

ps. It all started about 3 weeks ago when I was wandering past some AV's and saw a miniature with small white tinged pink blooms like little roses. That wee girl came home with me and has been cheerfully opening up buds ever since.

Hi Kelly,
One of the best growers in Canada will sell leaves and possibly small plants is listed as a contact in the vendor section of Quebec. She has a wonderful selection of Croteau hybrids and is very knowledgeable about violets. Her name is Nancy Robitale. I would suggest you contact her and see what she has to sell.
Fred in NJ

Ooooo thanks Fred!

Kelly.

Kelly -

you are living it the same province with the best violet and gesneriad growers of our time. Keep an eye on their Shows and Sales - that's the place to purchase all the kind of neat things. Their next meeting is on 16th in Vancouver - in VanDusen Botanical Garden - I understand that probably ferrying from Victoria to Vancouver every month is too much - but you try to contact them - and may be somebody from the club lives in Victoria. Looks like they even share their extras on every meeting.

Good Luck

Irina

Here is a link that might be useful: Best Of the Best

Oooooo. Good to know. Thanks for the splendido tip. I'll go over if I can. #@mn ferries are pricey, but sooo tempting.

Cheers Irina

Kelly

Because of failing health, I am no longer selling leaves from Quebec. I recommend Tina from www.bloomlovers.com and healthy starter plants from Helen who sells only from ebay. Her ID is violets4you and she has an excellent number of AVs and other gesneriads.

You might consider joining several of the AV forums. My own forum, Canadian African Violet Exchange, Violet Reflections, for beginners and experts, Violet Voice and others. Take a look at CAVX on yahoo. I am not permitted to place the email address. Just go to Yahoo, write in groups, then African violets. You will find a lot of groups.

Nancy

Violet Voice is on Yuku.com and we would love to have you. It's a small group but everyone is knowledgeable. Well I'm there but the rest are knowledgeable :).

We have a photo contest every month. All you get is "fame" for winning but it's good practice and we always need new participants.

Diana in PA

Dang you people are friendly! After the crappy few weeks I've had, this is quite the breath of fresh air.

Thank you
Kelly in Victoria