Violet Barn (violetbarn.com) and Lyndon Lyon (lyndonlyon.com) also ship in the winter. I'm a little bit "anti" Optimara just because there are so many other unique varieties out there that are more worthy of your shelf space. Especially if you're looking at Russian, trailers and chimeras. Chimeras are always expensive, but trailers and Russian varieties are the same price as other standards. I order a lot from both Violet Barn and Lyndon Lyon, and both of their starters grow like crazy for me after I repot them and put them under lights. Leaves are hard to start off the bat going into this hobby, so maybe order some plants, and practice on those leaves once they get bigger, or maybe buy one Optimara plant next time you're out and practice on leaves from that plant.

Hope this helps!

Al-

Bluebird greenhouses have a good selection of Space Violets and they have Russian varieties as well. they will ship them to you if the weather is right - and looks like between North Carolina and Louisiana the weather is mostly right all the time - except large snowstorms that happen rarely. Anyway - call them - they are super nice.

I think it is not an optimal approach to pay $25 for large perfect violets grown by somebody else. Unless you have a wedding coming and you want "EverLove" on the table - or similar situation - like you want to make your Mom happy on her birthday. If you are buying for yourself - you need to get a leaf or a starter - and grow it well yourself. Somebody's else plant will go into shock soon after relocation - and it will never be able to be as beautiful as the one you raised yourself,

Plus - it is more fun too do it yourself.

Irina

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluebird Greenhouse

I agree with the above. Selective Gardener is very expensive. Most of my violets are from Bluebird Greenhouse. I have a Russian (Ozornye Volki) and a Space violet (EverGrace) from them, and they come in 4" pots for about $7 or $8 each. This is more expensive than their usual $6 per plant, but still only 1/3 what Selective Gardener charges.

Thank you all so much for the store information. I'm going to order something from Bluebird Greenhouse. Later, once I'm more advanced I'll get a chimera from Lyndon Lyon.

I'm am so excited! You all are right: AV can be very addicting. I'm going to take a breath and learn everything I can.

Uh-oh....there IS a snowstorm heading my way. Oh well, I'll order them anyway! Hehehehe

Thanks again!

My order from Bluebird came in today and everything was so wonderful. They even threw in a Russian fantasy violet.

They were super nice over the phone to boot. I will definitely purchase from them again.

Thank you all for the recommendation!

I had the pleasure meeting them all last year - these people worked their hearts off organizing Raleigh AVSA convention. They are the best!

I.

I have ordered plants from Bluebird Greenhouse 3 times, and they have always thrown in a free plant! Just another way to make sure people are happy.

You can also try eBay, they have a great selection of plants at a reasonable price. Especially if your a beginner grower, I would recommend not spending too much for violets. Of course if your into collecting violets, then specialty growers are the best.

Minal, I've gotten some leaves from Ebay. I also went to nearby AV show in March to get some more leaves/plants. I am truly addicted, and I just discovered AVs in January.

I do like to save plants from the deadpile at my local Lowes. Like clockwork, I go there every two weeks and convince the manager to give me the dying plants for half off. I've gotten two of the Everfloris space violets that way. I'm reading up about them so that I can know what I like. I'm also hybridizing.

Growing AVs is just awesome. (I've joined the AVSA.) And, I recently gotten interested in Sinningia's and Streps. I'll have to move out of my apartment!

Hi Al: I have recently ordered from Selective Gardener. Plants are healthy, but blooms for the ones they select for me are not great (flowers are too small for my husband's taste). I do not expect the 8 types of EverFloris ones I ordered will be that great either. The plants are still small and have not in full bloom yet. I would check out your nearby florists first. I just got some beautiful full grown violets with full bloom from my local florist this morning for $12/each. Please DO NOT VENTURE ONLINE yet until you can keep a few violets happy. Why pay $8-$50 for each tiny violet online when you can have a full grown one for $12 from your local florists. One ebay seller even sent us the wrong type (flower opened up not the same as the posted picture). Most orders do not come right away. International orders last week will not be here until 2 more weeks. Our plants may be dead in the cold winter on the way here.

My husband and I have recently wasted so much money on ebay (international and domestic) and online orders (Selective Gardener and Violet Barn) (several hundred dollars) and have nothing to show for, except an increasing anger for feeling cheated and a whole bunch of tiny and pathetic plants that we are not sure if we can nurse them to grow and to bloom. I wish I had the courage to stop my husband from looking at just nice pictures of flowers online LOL. He recently got interested in African Violets again, after we let our beautiful German African Violets (that we grew from college days) die after the birth of our son.

I will upload photos of all violets I have recently purchased on this website tonight, after I go home.

Violets from my local florist: large full grown with blooms for $12/each

I would consider these violets from a local florist to be better than those I ordered from Selective Gardener or Violet Barn (will post their pictures tonight).

I purchased the two African violets below because of their color contrast

I would advise newbies to buy from a florist.

Once you have perfected your growing skills, you can attempt to grow starter plants from mail-order sources.

Your plants from Selective Gardener should be pretty decent. If you got (8) varieties of the Everfloris series, you have a lot of potentially beatiful plants.

It is very difficult to ship fully grown African Violets. Typically, leaves get broken, and blooms just don't survive the trip. So, you end up waiting for the next bloom cycle anyway, which will be months down the road.

Ebay's P.J.'s Violets does a good job of shipping full size plants, but even then, the plant will rarely arrive with lasting bloom.

Hey Xmahini,

You’ve revived this old post! Haha.
I’ve since ordered from Selective Gardener a lot of times since my
original post.

It sounds like you got one of their smaller Everfloris
plants that fit in 2 inch pots. The
larger ones are very pricey, and I think they grow them in 5 inch pots.

You’re right though: if you want larger growing plants, it’s
better to purchase them from a local store or florist. Larger plants just don’t ship well, which is
why the online vendors ship smaller ones.

EDIT: I agree with everything Aegis said.

Nah - you've spent the money - now you are obliged to succeed. You stirred the pot - we are waiting for by-weekly photos on your progress.

Dear Irina: What a tough judge you are! Bi-weekly photos? haha. Let me get a handle on the diseases part first. I want to make sure that I educate my husband properly first with all the things I am learning online. Who knows, he may eventually dump the whole responsibility on me. For now, he does not want me to come close to or touch any of the violets yet LOL

Another senior moment...OK - not bi-weekly - but monthly!

Buy him a book! Man's mind works differently - that's why they never ask for directions. There are books about indoor light gardening - on AV and genseriads - look for an author Melvin Robey. His old book African Violets - Gifts from Nature - 320 pages costs a bundle - but it covers everything. Now they started reprinting it but in separate volumes.

No needs for books for him, he just gave me all his "tiny weaklings" that I ordered online to take care off. But hey, this way I can give away some good leaves to my great friends online without asking permission. (It would be hard for him to part with anything he likes very much). Glad my report will be monthly instead of bi-weekly. The boys in my family don't like to read books. They made me read books and summarize the content in a few bullet items for them.

According to a recent interview on a podcast called All About African Violets, the experts agreed it can take 3 years for a violet to mature. Joanne

Cannot agree - for the purpose of growing a standard size blooming plant for Show - you generally do not need that much time.

. All depends on the variety and the conditions. With perfect conditions - regular repotting on a schedule, good fertilizer, fluorescent lights, on wicks and with good humidity, with disbudding - in a year - max in a year and half you can have a large show plant in heavy bloom. Green leaf varieties grow faster than variegated, heavily variegated plants take very long time - these can take 3 years. Example - an old variety 'Ann'. Very slow grower. Same - a standard trailer 'Cherokee Trail' - lots of white. Some standard trailers - even with green leaves - take time to grow a specimen plant. but I would say - 2 years max. Most varieties in 3 years will develop a thick stem and lose their vigor.

But - I didn't see this podcast - and for whatever reason - I cannot get the videos to run. So I do not know in what context the experts agreed on the maturity.

Anyway = I think we all shared our passion and knowledge with Xmahini. We persuaded her that bigger is not always better, that growing from scratch is much more interesting than getting a finished product from a store, that there are very many tricks of the trade and we all love to experiment trying to perfect our methods.

I hope we made a convert - and this family is now going to be burdened with 2 hobbies - aquariums and African Violets.

Some people start growing - and give up because they lose their first plants while on a learning curve. It takes an early success to get hooked. The way how these little starters are looking in Xmahini care - I would say - very good chance they will grow and bloom so well - we will have a new AV addict in Bay Area,.

I.

hahaha irina. You are such a caring person, thinking about our current hobbies. I got the aquarium thing under control. I added all expenses every year and told my husband the total amount he "wasted". He said "Oh, really?" Now he is allowed to buy only salt and a few snails lol. Luckily his hard coral and some soft coral grow like crazy. He did the same thing with the yard. I totalled the amount he spent on flowers and plants, more than twice the budget he allowed himself to spend haha. I already started dressing up my co-workers' desks with pots of AV and they are very appreciative. I am not the selfish type. Life is too short. I share with people around me. I cannot bring to my grave any material things in this world.

I survived the building of the Long Ezy plane in our garage...

I deleted my original complaint. Will see how well I can nurse tiny AV plants. What do you mean irina?

My husband built an airplane in the garage. It took enough time - by the moment the plane was ready to fly - he couldn't get his flying license renewed for medical reasons. So - we sold it - and it is now flying in Vancouver. Think about 20 years without a garage...

Joanne said "According to a recent interview on a podcast called All About African
Violets, the experts agreed it can take 3 years for a violet to mature." May I gently correct that idea? Annie did say that she invests 2 to 3 years to bring a standard to show maturity but the two experts she was interviewing (Kurt Jablonski and Belinda Thibodeaux) said that was not at all true for them, about 18 months being more their time line. And they offered the thought that perhaps that was because they are both from the deep south, but Annie grows in the much colder Chicago area. I don't know where in the world you live, Xmahini, but perhaps you wouldn't need to expect to wait 3 years to see a mature standard African violet. :-)

Irina, I love your story (and your patience) about your husband's airplane building, LOL. BTW, I had trouble with watching those podcasts too once Annie switched to using WordPress to put them out. By suggestion I downloaded Google Chrome and they did play perfectly on that web browser for whatever reason...

Anne

I love your story too, irina. I am glad you stick with him through thick and thin.

I am sticking to my hubby. Good vintage guys are rare and valuable

I finally managed to upload the last podcast - and yes - it depends on the climate. And growing AVs in Florida - is not the easiest - too hot and humid is counterproductive as well. But beats Chicago I guess.

Ahhhh,,,,xmahini,,,,so glad to hear we will get monthly pix & reports! And I think your violets will do well with your positive attitude! You go girl! Don't think of it as money wasted, think of it as opportunity! To nurture and bring to flower beautiful plants!!!!! Good luck!!! Rosie