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African Violets

Voila! Violet I.D.

9 years ago

I pulled apart a violet I was able to I.D. on the Optimara website!! It is Connecticut!! It is a single pansy two-tone lilac color. The blooms look like the I.D., the light, bright green leaves, too. However, the pot was a collection of suckers, 8 in all. So if they all survive, I should have some to share in a few weeks or months. I am not sure why it suckered so badly, perhaps it is secretly a trailer, as the leaves are small. Or if it was due to winter neglect. Time will tell if the babies try to sucker. I have a short list of ladies I owe some plants to, so when I am ready to ship, if these are ready, I will ask if these are wanted, too.

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Comments (3)

terrilou
9 years ago
Connecticut is a lovely variety which I've grown on a couple of occasions. This is one variety I can usually identify in an Optimara grouping as the color is rather unique. The leaves will no doubt grow larger. My plants were not sucker happy so hopefully yours will settle down now they've been separated.
Karin
9 years ago
I have one that i believe is conneticut, not a sucker in sight....

now, pink dove, i just pulled 7 suckers off, and rob's love bite had even more...
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Are the flowers clustered, single or semi-double and of a pansy shape? It is hard to tell with the information you have given but if the stems have a group of flowers kind of clustered together like a group it could be a Optimara Tradition. This plant has the foliage you are describing. Hope this may help you. If you could give more of a description of the flowers it would be helpful. davioletman
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Thanks. They are rolled sugar cookies. The icing I used was icing sugar and meringue powder with water. I'd say I use about 3/4 tsp powder to about a cup of icing sugar. I add the water a tsp at a time until it's very spreadable, almost soupy. Drop a bit on a cookie, spread with fingertips to edges (almost edge - whatever you like) and dip in coloured sugar. They dry within an hour. I even double dip them about 10 minutes later when I want a second colour. I also attach butterfly bodies with the icing. When I bake them I usually lay the stick (whether it's the lollipop stick or a wooden skewer) down first and press the cookie on top (lightly). It doesn't stick as well with the wooden sticks so I will use the icing on the backs to keep them in place. It's super fast too. We can do 20 cookies within 15 minutes. I did a baby bouquet with royal icing and it took me 2 hours with the mixing, spreading and it still looked pretty bad. Cute, if I said I was drunk when I did it or if I said the kids did it. I will try that trick Sands but I think, by nature, I am wobbly.
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fortyseven_gw
Original Author
9 years ago
Interesting to know that what you guess to be CT has not suckered. My Rob's Love Bite has never suckered, it has remained in a single whorl, it is close to two years old. (I have wondered if it was mislabeled.)

By the way, the local grower who supplies the store where I got the Connecticut sometimes produces O plants that seem to be nothing by collections of suckers, with barely a whorl in sight. We have had discussions speculating about why this happens in our club. Some members drive out to the farm to pick up a quantity if they need them for a sale to the public. They can view the plants' growing conditions. They concluded that sometimes the plants are grown under stressed conditions, that is when they sucker. But that is just a theory. I will try to remember to report back the progress. Joanne

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