Violet Reflections

Newsletter - Issue 20 July 2002

Violet Reflections List Owner: Rachel
Content editor: Rich F., Visual Editor: Betsy T
An affiliate of the AVSA

Main Page Contents
Poetry Corner	Birthdays
Ander Afrikaan Viooltjie	Share The Joy
Pleased to Meet You	Tips & Tools
Newsletter Articles & Links
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Ander Afrikaan Viooltjie

Most members of the Violet Reflection's forum seek for Harvey's good advice on taking care of African violet.Well this month we are presenting you Harvey's favorite African violet.

Choosing my favorite variety was not an easy task. I am fond of most of the African violets that I grow. I am quite sure that those I am not yet fond of, I simply need more time to become accustomed to.

Will it be Buffalo Hunt, a truly beautiful plant, or Little Run-around, which drapes itself with pink blossoms, or maybe one of my no names like my no name cherry-vanilla? Each of them has some features that have endeared them to me.

When I look around at my shelves filled with flowers, one plant in particular stands out as exceptional. After much struggling with myself I finally came to the conclusion that my favorite plant is Lyon’s Pirate’s Treasure. This variety has a lot to like; it excels in so many areas it is hard to know where to start.

The large colorful blooms, over two inches across, have great substance to their petals. This means that they stay and stay and stay. They don’t dehydrate; turn color collapse, droop, or mildew. The flowers are held high above the rich green foliage in a cascaded mound. My plant has been in flower continuously for the past nine weeks and still has buds opening. The flowers are attractive both individually and also in masses.

The medium dark green, quilted leaves are three inches in diameter and have relatively short petioles of about two inches. They arrange themselves naturally and if I can find any fault with the leaves it is that they slope downward slightly and show themselves off.

The leaves are stiff to the point of being brittle but are not easily broken. I have been growing this plant for only six months, but I am amazed that none of the leaves show any signs of age. They all still have the fresh, robust look of a just matured leaf.

Pirate’s Treasure is a moderately slow growing plant that seems to have traded rapid growth for longevity. That longevity shows in the persistence of the flowers as well as the strength and durability of the leaves.

This variety is a treasure indeed.

Lyon's Pirate's Treasure (8529) 11/09/96 (S. Sorano) Single-semidouble pink pansy/wide red ruffled edge. Medium green, quilted. Standard.

Harvey Schneider

Thank you Harvey for your contribution to this column. Just reading your article makes me wish to get Lyon's Pirate's Treasure.

Get ready readers, you might be the next member I will ask to present their favorite African violet. Please e-mail your suggestions to:camirelc@sympatico.ca

Claire

 Pleased To Meet You… list member biography

I have lived in northwestern Minnesota most of my life (50+years). When I bought my home in '93, I started renovating my yard into mostly gardens. I was lucky enough to have 2 1/2 lots for my yard. I do have a weakness for hybrid roses(which do grow up here with winter protection) and have quite a few hybrid teas that I started with, along with numerous shrub roses, iris, daylilies, etc. I guess you could call my garden a specimen garden because I have so many different kinds of plants.

Living in Minnesota, of course, one has to have a winter hobby and mine is African violets. I have 7 lighted stands with 4 shelves each in my basement. I raise over 200 varieties and have everything from leaves down to mature plants. I especially love the Apache series by Munk and hope to get more with the exchanges. The Rebel series by Ruth Bann do real well for me and are very sturdy plants. I had a little project going to see if treated leaves (bleach rinsed) took longer to produce babies than just-cut leaves or leaves cut the week before. Happy to say that for me they all pushed up babies at the same time!

I don't really live by myself, as I have 3 Shetland Sheepdogs and 3 cats (my kids). I do have a grown son, Lynn, who lives in town along with my 2 grandsons, Landen & Trentyn. Sorry to say they don't share my interest in plants. I also have 2 Arabian horses that I don't ride often enough anymore, but they are real pets and I keep them where I work. I have been employed by a meat processing plant for 23 years and can truly say that I like my work. It is a small plant and I have many different areas that I cover.

I guess that is about all that would interest anyone, but feel free to contact me....

joanmarie@wiktel.com

Joan in MN

Last May I was adopted by Denise, who sent me some wonderful leaves. I had only
grown one baby from a leaf before but felt I was up to the challenge of more.
I planted the leaves in cut-down Styrofoam cups in a mix of peatmoss,
vermiculite, and perlite (1:1:1). I managed to get about 15 of the original
leaves to produce babies, but this is when my problems began. General advice was to
separate babies when there were dime size leaves. But how many dime size leaves?
I ended up separating too soon in my keenness to "keep moving" and several of the
first lot of babies died.

The leaves that were slower to produce babies were now the ones I had my hopes
on. There were about eight left and one of the leaves I separated from its babies
took again and sent up more babies.

Through the winter I babied the remaining leaves, now very cautious about
separating mother and babies. One Tuesday I was in a "learning chat" and the
subject came up. I was advised to first take off the mother leaf and then leave
the babies for a while. This I did and waited two to three weeks to separate the baby
plants. I was much more successful this time!

Today I have 6 medium-sized plants and two leaves back down producing more babies.
Almost exactly one year after I received my package, I have flowers on three of the
plants. These are my named violets, with grateful thanks to Denise:
Alleys July Forth (flowering), Sky Diver (flowering), Alamo Halo (flowering),
Fantasy Fiesta, Ode To Beauty, and Picasso

Helen (Winnipeg, Canada)

Tips & Tools

Submitted by Rich Follett in Virginia

One of the greatest tools I know for successfully growing African Violets is a teapot without a lid. Almost any rummage sale or yard sale will have at least one lidless porcelain teapot for mere pennies, and such a teapot is every bit as effective as the commercially marketed self-watering pots that you will see in ceramics shops, at shows, and on the internet.

It is very easy to set up an African violet in a lidless teapot for years of growing pleasure. Start with a four-inch piece of thin wicking material, about eight ounces of fine aquarium gravel, African Violet soil mix (enough to fill the teapot to the brim without packing), and the plant of your choice.

Thoroughly rinse and disinfect the teapot (a minute in the microwave under full power works like a charm). Next, hold the wicking material in place at the bottom of the pot (running from the bottom up the inside) and pour in the gravel so it holds the wick in place. Fill the remainder of the pot loosely with soil, make a hollow in the center, and transplant your plant as you would in any other type of pot.

When you water, pour the water into the spout - it will go directly to the roots of the plant. The gravel will act like a reservoir, and the wick will conduct water up to the plant as needed. Because most teapots have a somewhat narrow opening and widen out, water evaporates less rapidly and you will not have to water as often as with conventional pots. I have found that a lidless teapot four and one-half inches in diameter can happily grow an African Violet with a spread of a foot or more with no trouble.

The same approach works beautifully with trailers. There is another frings benefit - teapots qualify as "alternative containers" for most shows and you can always use one of your best-blooming teapots as a last-minute or replacement entry for a show if you find yourself in need.

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