Yes, variegated African violets (Saintpaulia) have been around since the 60s. They are not often seen in greenhouses.

There would be too many lavender/variegated violets to try to find its name. It may be better to give it a name yourself if you like.

Wait til you see variegated miniature African violets!

Nancy

Well, I've talked to the owner. She had no idea where it came from -- she said that her sister-in-law had given it to her, apparently some time ago.

She did say that it blooms, though not very often, and the blooms are light yellow.

Mr. S.,
Not only has there been variegated AV's around for over 40 years but there are different types of variegation. Some even have pink in the variegated leaves as well as cream.
You can check almost any sellers site to see more.
Fred in NJ

But Mr. S, we all thought you *knew*!

FC2 lists 3,874 variegated varieties. The variegations can come in: white, pale green, cream, gold, tan, and pink. There is crown var., where the new leaves turn green as they age, there is 'Tommie Lou' or TL var., which is around the edges (sometimes from the edges all the way to the middle), and mosaic var. which is in patches all through the leaf.

Check out Rob's for lots of variegated minis, and Hortense Pittman hybridized *lots* of mosaic plants.

Korina

PS *Love* your blog and am a regular reader!

I'd seen the ones with the white around the edges, the Tommie Lous, though not in person. I'd never even heard of the mosaic type (which I take it is what my pictures are of -- they're obviously not crown-type) before, though I guess that's not surprising. I'd never thought about African violets much before starting my current job, and then I didn't think very highly of them -- the ones they had were unhappy. (They got better. Or, they're getting better. They like to hang out with the poinsettias, it turns out.)

I don't know for sure, but I'll say it so that someone would correct me if I'm wrong -- I think that plant is Tommie Lou type. I had this discussion (linked below) saved as a reference for variegation types, and as far as I understood, mosaic variegation shows up in tiny streaks all over the leaf, and if you have large areas of pink/white/whatever, that's Tommie Lou, even if the variegated areas aren't forming a band around the edge. So mosaic would be like 'Witch Doctor', for example: http://www.avsa.org/Photographs/WitchDoctorLrg.jpg

But please correct me if I'm wrong!

Here is a link that might be useful: discussion on variegation types

I've read what everyone has responded to regarding the leaves but mr subjunctive said the blooms are light yellow. Any thoughts on a name? there aren't too many yellow one are there? I know the other colors are pretty much impossible to name as there are thousands but what about yellow flowered ones?

Hi,
I generally don't approve of giving a noid a name but as the last person said how many can there be? I got this list by searching FC2 and since there were only five I thought it might be worth a shot. Use the names and go to the AVSA.org site to see if any of the following 5 look like yours.
Good Luck,
Fred in NJ

Alamo Sunshine (8395) 03/08/1996 (H. Pittman) Double white/yellow. Variegated medium green and white, plain. Standard
Golden Plume (8242) 07/28/1995 (S. Sorano) Semidouble white star/yellow mottling. Variegated medium green and white, pointed, quilted, serrated. Standard
Golden Spirit (8871) 06/13/2000 (J. Brownlie) Semidouble white and yellow pansy. Variegated medium green and white, plain. Standard
Summer Sunshine (Lyon) Double white frilled star/yellow blush eye. Variegated medium green and white, wavy. Standard
Wrangler's Western Daze (W. Smith) Single medium lavender-purple star/yellow eye. Variegated green, pink and cream. Standard