Lucky Me - first post in a few years?

I know it's been a long time since I've posted here but I've had a lot of stuff going on and I lost most of my plants as a result.  I'm getting back into the swing of things and Lucky Me is one of the plants that I've found again for my collection.  If I could only grow 10 plants or less, this would be on that list. Lucky Me is one of the most gorgeous violets, in my opinion. I'll be putting a couple leaves down this afternoon to ensure that I don't lose it because it's one of the extremely rare ones. I hope to grow this one for the rest of my days. <3

Lucky Me (6298) 06/30/1986 (J. Domiano) Double orchid/darker mottling, variable purple edge. Light green, plain, glossy. Large (DAVS 942)

 

Ack!

I just watched what was probably one of the worst videos about African Violet propagation that I've ever seen.  I'm glad that a young person is in love with our plants but I hope that he learns some better tricks than what he shows in his video.

Here's my comment that I replied with:

Thanks for your enthusiasm! We need more younger people involved in the hobby!  I have a few pointers. 1/ You don't need to use rooting hormone.  AV leaves are prolific in production without it, so you're wasting your money.  2/ While some varieties are very slow to produce babies, most will have "mouse ears" poking up within 6 - 8 weeks if they're put down into a very small pot.  Think 3 oz Dixie cup or smaller.  You also need to separate the babies so they grow better! And I'm out of space!

I ran out of space on YouTube's space but I also wanted to say that watering a leaf that frequently will probably rot it.  You also do NOT want to tamp the soil down like he did.  You need to leave space for the new roots to grow and for the baby(ies) to make their way up through.  Even better than using straight African Violet soil is to mix it with perlite (50/50 is good) so it's not so heavy.

I couldn't believe the babies that he showed that had been there for a year and were growing up in the original pot as the momma leaf.  Those babies would look so much better if they'd been separated out months ago!

And now I'm off my soapbox.  Just remember that not everything on the internet is the best advice.  m3rma1d makes excellent videos with great advice on how to care for your African Violets and I highly recommend her over just about anyone else out there!

Richter auction... MINE! :D

YAY!  I just won an auction for Richter's Chenille!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261058080719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&autorefresh=true

I lost several of the Richter babies that I had and will be getting replacements next week of all except for Green Dawn.  That's the only one that I have to find out of the Richter hybrids that are known to still be available.  So close to having them all!

More leaves!

In my last post, I talked about getting new leaves put down but I never posted what they were!  Here's the list:

1) Cambridge Missy - (Adams) Semi-double blossoms with fringed green edges.  Medium green girl foliage. Miniature  

2)Mikinda Girl (A. E. Adams) Single cerise. Crown variegated green and cream, girl foliage. Miniature  

3)Wondrous Girl (H. Pittman) Semidouble light blue. Variegated, glossy girl foliage. Miniature (DAVS 1296, TX Hyb)  

4)Nancy's Baby Girl (D Rollins)  Dark blue flowers over dark blue girl foliage.  Miniature  

5) Kentucky Bride (D. Rollins) Single white large pansy/pink blush. Medium green, serrated girl foliage. Standard (DAVS 1601) 

6)Navy Girl (408) 12/01/1954 (F. Tinari) Double dark purple. Quilted, cupped, girl foliage. Large  

7)Persian Prince (8266) 07/28/1995 (S. Sorano) Semidouble medium blue pansy. Medium green, ovate, scalloped girl foliage. Miniature  

8)Little Clown (4917) 07/28/1982 (R. Nadeau) Single white sticktite/variable purple. Girl foliage. Semiminiature  

9)Ramblin' Lassie (9022) 03/23/2001 (S. Sanders/R. Brenton) Semidouble blue-lavender star. Variegated medium green and white girl foliage. Semiminiature trailer 

10)Shiawasee Trail (9023) 03/23/2001 (S. Sanders/R. Brenton) Double blue and white variable star. Medium green girl foliage. Standard trailer

I've already lost Navy Girl.  If anyone has a source where I can buy a set of leaves without having to buy 10 and then pay $10 shipping on top of it, please let me know.  I really want this one!

Yesterday, I received more leaves!  lol

Midget Silver Fox (E. Champion) Double dark blue. Mosaic variegated dark green and silver. Miniature (Mosaic leaves!  Squeee!)
Ness' Crinkle Blue (8136) 01/19/1995 (D. Ness) Double dark blue star/thin white edge. Dark green, quilted, serrated/red back. Semiminiature (I've had this one multiple times with no success... maybe this time?)
Precious Pink (6025) 07/05/1985 (H. Pittman) Semidouble pink. Variegated, plain. Semiminiature (DAVS 913, TX Hyb)
Appalachian Tussy Mussy (KC Arceneaux) Single to Semi-double pale lavender pansies. Crown variegated foliage. Semiminiature (User Database)
Rob's Slap Happy (9040) 05/31/2001 (R. Robinson) Semidouble dark coral pansy. Crown variegated dark green, white, cream and pink, quilted. Semiminiature
Rob's Chilly Willy (9461) 07/30/2005 (R. Robinson) Double silver-white star/medium blue overlay, edge. Crown variegated medium green and white, pointed. Miniature
Rob's Love Bite (9039) 05/31/2001 (R. Robinson) Semidouble black-red pansy. Crown variegated dark green, cream and beige/red back. Miniature
Rob's Antique Rose (8451) 05/23/1996 (R. Robinson) Semidouble silver-rose sticktite frilled pansy/darker shading, some silver-green tips. Dark green, pointed, glossy, serrated/red back. Semiminiature
Mac's Misty Meadow (10153) 11/06/2009 (G. McDonald) Single white sticktite pansy/green edge. Medium green, plain. Semiminiature
Malyshka Rusalka (10084) 08/07/2009 (K. Morev) Single-semidouble fuchsia frilled pansy/variable red eye; darker upper petals, white-yellow edge. Medium green, plain. Standard (Russ/Ukr) (Yes, I have this one but the leaves are so tiny that I put down that it's nice to have mature leaves finally!)
Rob's Kalangadoo, Very unusual 'leaf chimera' with semimini trailing foliage.  Double orchid blooms with dark blue fantasty streaks.  Unique, dusting and streaking of gold on pointed green foliage.

I received a crown of Kalangadoo.  Per a posting from Ann-Marie Keene, " I emailed Rob, he says it's chimera in the way that it can't be reproduced true by leaf alone, has to be suckers."  One leave broke off, so I'm going to put it down and see what I get.  Should be interesting!

Today in violets

I put down about 15 varieties of leaves today, most of them being girl foliage.  One of them had already rotted so I saved what I could of the leaf but I don't know if it'll survive.  If it doesn't, I'll be in search of another Navy Girl!

I also have babies coming up from my last set of leaves that I put down.  I didn't blog about that or take photos at the time but here are a few that are peeking through right now.

 Broadway Star Trail

 Buckeye Seductress

 Rob's Pewter Bells

 Malyshka Rusalka (Baby Mermaid) - I received a leaf of this a year ago and had a baby going strong in March before we moved.  I checked on the baby in early May just in time to save 3 leaves because it was rotting.  I was very upset but was excited today to see that one of the leaves has a baby coming up!  The other two leaves look good still, so maybe I'll have more coming up from them... it was a slow plant before, so it's hard to know for sure!

Double Black Cherry - Again, I was very upset when I realized that my plant was dying and I rushed to save a few leaves.  The leaves weren't in great shape but one of them has mouse ears!  Hoping to see babies popping up on the other two leaves that I saved!  Unfortunately, my French Lilac didn't make it either and no leaves could be saved by the time I discovered it.  I have one offer of a baby when they're big enough but I can't hold my breath since sometimes babies don't make it.

 I inherited this violet at one of our club meetings a few months ago.  I was supposed to give classes at work on African Violets and I wanted to use this as a demonstration but things have changed at work (including a promotion!), so those classes won't be happening.  Today was the day that I decided to go ahead and fix her up. :)

 I don't know why I decided to cut the neck so short.  Maybe because it was on such an angle?  Anyway, this is how short I cut it off...

   I removed some leaves and put them down as "insurance" for the plant and they're now domed with the rest of the babies.  Since we don't know what the plant is, some of the ladies in the club were very curious to see what they looked like after we revived them.  I lost the other two that I'd gotten but this one has been happy by the kitchen sink and a few other ladies also took some of them, so next year should be fun to see how they turned out!

 Renee also had a few troubles but she's coming through well.  I also put a leaf down from this plant as insurance as the woman that I got this one from has lost her plant.  It's been a rough year for violets so far!

Beethoven

Beethoven's first bloom. It's more red than the first two photos show but it's definitely not a true red at all. More of a reddish purple. Very pretty though and I'm glad I was able to find it!

Beethoven (Volkmann) Semidouble red star/white ruffled edge. Dark green, round. Standard

(Does anyone have a year for this one?  I'm thinking it's from the mid-80's or so?)

 

 I don't like this photo nearly as well but it shows the color much better than the first photo.

Nortex's Petticoat Haven

Nortex's Petticoat Haven (4800) 05/05/1982 (Nortex/B. Johnson) Double light pink frilled. Pointed, quilted. Standard (TX Hyb)

I grew this NOID

Last January I was in a local nursery when I spied their African Violets.  I hadn't been to anything club oriented yet but I've loved violets for years, so I took a look.  They were all large and expensive (compared to what I'd seen so far at Home Depot), so I limited myself to just one.  I picked a gorgeous two-toned purple violet but there was a loose leaf laying in the tray that looked like it belonged to another violet that I thought was interesting but I decided that time around would stay there.  Since I was buying a violet anyway, I tucked the leaf into the plant that I did purchase and brought it home for propagation.  That leaf languished for awhile but has been highly prolific (4 babies from this batch) and is currently down for her second set of babies, with another 3 or 4 babies on growing now.  

The violet below is one of the first two babies.  Beautiful dark purple blossoms with girl leaves.  She may be a NOID but I'll definitely be keeping at least one of these. :)

Luck!

We had our violet club meeting this morning, as we always do on the 4th Monday of the month.  I love seeing the ladies and it's always a wonderful and fun time.

Today was especially fun as I won the monthly raffle, as I did last month.  This time the prize was... VIOLETS!  (It's not always plants. lol)  Ness' Crinkle Blue, Christening Gown, and Rob's Fiddle Faddle.  They're not adult plants yet but I'm excited about them.  Rob's Fiddle Faddle is blooming but the other two aren't quite old enough.  All this for 25 cents!

I also ended up with Yesterday's Valentine, a Jeff Smith hybrid.  If anyone can get me info on the parentage of that plant, I'd love to know.  Claire told me that one parent is a Species plant. :)

Our next meeting isn't until January as the club never meets in December and I'm really going to miss my violet ladies!  I'm glad that I have plenty of plants to keep me busy!

Thank you ladies for a wonderful time and to Claire for donating some beautiful violets for the raffle today. <3



Christening Gown (S. Sorano) Semidouble white frilled pansy. Dark green. Semiminiature

Ness' Crinkle Blue (8136) 01/19/1995 (D. Ness) Double dark blue star/thin white edge. Dark green, quilted, serrated/red back. Semiminiature

Rob's Fiddle Faddle (7431) 10/06/1990 (R. Robinson) Semidouble rose-pink. Dark green, pointed, hairy, serrated/red back. Semiminiature

Yesterday's Valentine (8910) 11/24/2000 (Jeff Smith) Double medium blue pansy. Dark green, heart-shaped, hairy/red back. Standard trailer

Surprise!

I stayed home from work today because I wasn't feeling well.  I was off the previous two days for my "weekend" and yesterday was mostly spent in bed.  Today my boyfriend wanted me to get out for some fresh air so he dragged me to a bookstore and then to the nursery next door to the bookstore.  Well, they had African Violets there.  They had the exact same NOID that I have sitting in my home that I waited more than a year for a bloom on

and a few other very beautiful violets that I thought were also NOIDs...

I say "thought" because then I saw one that was unmistakable.  Even though there was no tag with it, there is absolutely NO mistaking...

FROZEN IN TIME!!!

Frozen in Time (9167) 02/03/2003 (Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses/Sorano) Single-semidouble white star/variable lavender tinge; green edge. Variegated light green and ivory, quilted. Standard

Yes, I bought the plant immediately!  lol  I also got the name of the nursery where they get most of their plants and I've checked out their "currently available" list.  This place lists each plant with their actual name, so I'm very hopeful that I can get the name of my lovely pink NOID.  Another woman that I know brought home Anthoflores Little Axel from this same nursery.  Very exciting day, even amidst the aches and pains of whatever flu bug that I'm dealing with right now.

The plant has now been disbudded and put into isolation.  I saw no signs of thrips on any of the violets but you can never been too sure.  Also, you can't see mites with the naked eye and there were LOTS of cyclamens in the nursery today, even if they were in a completely different room.

You can see a touch of lavender in the lower blossom.

Here's a look at a Frozen in Time that I saw a month or so ago.  Because I'd seen this plant in person and it's such a distinctive look, I was able to make a positive ID on this one.  

This plant is grown much nicer than mine is but mine will straighten out with time. :)

Show apprehension

Last March I went to my first African Violet show.  I was enamored by all the beautiful plants and blown away by all the wonderful people that I met.  I quickly joined a local club and my plant collection started to grow by leaps and bounds!  In May there was a "challenge" put out by another club to encourage people to enter their violets into the show coming up this next March and I thought to myself, "Why not?"

Last night and this morning I read two posts from people that made me re-think my "why not?"...

A woman posted last night that she'd entered some of her plants in a local show.  She ended up winning two BIS and several other awards.  She came home minus some leaves that had been pinched off without her knowledge and thrips.  From the thrips and the measures that she took to protect her other plants, she lost 5 of her plants.

Today I read a blog entry from another woman who took some of her plants to show last spring.  Her plants aren't doing so well now and she's suspecting mites.  She's thinking that she may have to throw away her entire collection.

I really love some of my violets and my oldest ones have only been here for a little over a year.  I'd be heart broken if I took some of these wonderful plants to show them off and they got sick and died as a result.  Especially when it's known that these plants can live for decades, with proper care.  Yes, I know that they're looked over for pests when they enter the show area but things get missed and there's always a chance that *other* plants in the nursery where the show is held can cause issues as well.

I'm a volunteer for the upcoming show and that'll be a lot of fun but I'm seriously wondering if I should leave my plants at home.

A good day for a violet.

So I went to get my eyes checked today.  When I went last year they had a beautiful violet with girl leaves on the counter and they were gracious enough to share a leaf with me.  My leaf had babies and then rotted for whatever reason, so I was anxious about whether or not I should ask for another leaf today or not!  When I arrived, the violet was there but it was no longer in its previous glory.  It only covered half the pot (4") and the leaves looked really sad.  I commented on it and she said she needed to give it some water...

I could see the soil and there was mold on top and it was extremely obvious that water was the last thing that it needed!  I lifted up one of the leaves and the whole plant lifted... it had completely rotted off of the stem and was going to die if it didn't have some care and soon.

The receptionist has a connection with this plant because it was given to her 5 years ago when her mother passed away, so I offered to bring the plant home and see what I could do with it.

I cleaned off all of the excess soil and rot and shortened the stem.  There was a good amount of "neck" that was still healthy, so that was a good sign for me that the plant will survive.  Took off all the extra dead leaves and a few that weren't doing so well, scraped the neck up a bit, and stuck it in some soil.  This poor little girl is now in a container with some good light and it's now time to wait and see.

At home...

with a flash...

 The container the plant was in.  See the water marks on the side?  No wonder it was drowning!

It was no effort at all to pick the plant up like this.

You can see the end of the stem here.

The pot after I removed the plant.

The "good" part of the stem/neck.

A different angle of the stem/neck.

I snapped it off this far and scraped it up a little bit for roots to form in the soil.

In the "hospital"!

The top of the plant with flash - in the hospital.  I'll take more photos later after the plant has had a chance to realize she's in a good place!

When I go back to select a frame, I'll have to let the receptionist know that her plant will be in the "hospital" for a little while but I *will* bring her back :)