Monday, August 22, 2011

1977 AVM's - The Redhead?

I recently received the entire year of 1977 AVM's and have been having a fun time reading through them! As fun as it's been, it's also been a little heartbreaking to see violets that are probably no longer around. Of course, I've fallen in love with one...

Does anyone know if The Redhead is still available? How about these?
Pink Granada (Granger)
Purple Spot (Lyon)
Henrietta Wilson
Celia (Maas)
Betcha
Cat's Meow
Kira (Howard Utz)
Tippy (Lyon)
Sylvan Blue
Fredette's Sugar Blues

I'd love it if anyone could point me to some the violets that I've listed but I'm afraid that many of them are no longer around.

In other news, my close-up photo of Renee is going to be in FC2 as she wasn't pictured in that program. Thanks to Ann-Marie for helping out with this. :) Bambino, Iris, Kaper, and Topps will have photos as soon as my plants are ready :)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Renee

Renee by kenyapurrz4me
Renee, a photo by kenyapurrz4me on Flickr.

Renee (946) 11/16/1957 (A. Richter) Double medium blue. Plain girl foliage. Standard.

Renee

Renee by kenyapurrz4me
Renee, a photo by kenyapurrz4me on Flickr.

Renee (946) 11/16/1957 (A. Richter) Double medium blue. Plain girl foliage. Standard.

Re-introducing Renee (First Bloom)

Re-introducing Renee (946) 11/16/1957 (A. Richter) Double medium blue. Plain girl foliage. Standard. This may be the first time that she's been seen online as she's a very, very rare beauty indeed!

Renee by kenyapurrz4me
Renee, a photo by kenyapurrz4me on Flickr.

Renee (946) 11/16/1957 (A. Richter) Double medium blue. Plain girl foliage. Standard.




Renee by kenyapurrz4me
Renee, a photo by kenyapurrz4me on Flickr.

Renee (946) 11/16/1957 (A. Richter) Double medium blue. Plain girl foliage. Standard.



I received this crown on April 25, 2011 as my first try at starting a crown (from a class that our club did). I removed 2 leaves from that crown to send to a woman who had been looking for Renee for years and then I left her pretty much alone.

The other night when I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that she had put a bloom stalk up and I nearly choked! lol She thought she was being pretty sneaky there! Today she opened up enough for me to take a photo and I snapped it as soon as I could!

There are 2 other blossoms on that bloom stalk that are developing but no other bloom stalks. There is, however, another baby coming up on the side. My understanding is that this girl is quick to do this as the mother plant had crowns ALL over it!

Really loving my oldie... she hurdled me into the world of vintage violets and I'm loving it!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Birthday Mustangs

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150255788626588.323623.536826587&l=539a65e795&type=1

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150257168461588.323997.536826587&l=8709c470a4&type=1

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150258337056588.324365.536826587&l=c1a6b605b7&type=1


A Teenager Speaks: (1977)

Violets Are For Everyone

Carol Ann Miderski

Several years back my parents started raising African Violets. At first it was just a hobby but it gradually grew into a small business. Originally I couldn't understand their enthusiasm over what I considered to be "JUST A BUNCH OF PLANTS." Slowly but surely it must have rubbed off on me because I began to enjoy working in the plant house. I grew to love watching the little green sprouts in the soil grow into big, healthy, blooming plants. As I gained interest I graduated from pot washer, to divider, to helper, to experimenter until finally I had a hand in just about everything. For instance, I have just recently tried my hand at hybridizing and I am eagerly waiting to see what kind of results I get. Now, at age 15, I think I love working with the violets as much as my parents do. I guess you could say they've grown on me.

I went to the St. Louis AVSA Convention with my mother and we attended many of the workshops. I also attended the judging school and took the test. I felt that even if I didn't pass, it would be a good experience. Well to my surprise I did pass. But that's not the point. The point is that violets are for everyone, young and old, male and female. The problem is that most people do not realize how wide and interesting the field of violet growing is. It encompasses much more than first meets the eye. With African Violets there is always something new to learn and something different to try. It allows you to use your imagination. I believe that if more young people are convinced that African Violets are fun because they are easy to gro, that I will see many more of my generation at the next convention.


November, 1977 AVM

AVM Magazines... 1977

I purchased the entire year of issues (5) of AVM from 1977 and they arrived yesterday. It's really interesting to go through them and see plants that are no longer available and hear the things that were important to them at the time. I've also discovered that I want, if at all possible!, to get The Redhead. It's a beautiful violet that should not be lost and I'm hoping that it hasn't been.

I also discovered yet another Richter violet that Candy doesn't have on her list. Jingle Bells has no information on it other than the name but it was on the 1977 Best Varieties list. I've written to her to let her know about it.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

My Birthday

My boyfriend took me to Sand Wash Basin, Colorado to spend my birthday and the next day with wild Mustangs. We did it last year too and I'm hoping that this will be a yearly adventure for us. I'll post links to my photos soon.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Heh, Happy Birthday to me!

I just bought 3 vintage violets from ebay as a birthday present for me!

New Year's Eve
Berry Splash
Granger's Peach Frost

Simpler Times

Simpler Times by kenyapurrz4me
Simpler Times, a photo by kenyapurrz4me on Flickr.

Well, here she is 5 days later. The blossoms are getting larger and more what I was expecting. The color is still more purple than I remembered but she's very lovely. Can't wait to see how much she changes in another few days!