i like:

blue mist

baby snow jewel

beauty goddess

optimara cora

so thats four each right? why dont we finish this PM?

edit: i followed you but i cant message you until you follow me.

carolyn,

here are the other un identified varieties i have blooming at the moment. i am nearly positive that the first two are not optimara. the colors shown in the photos is pretty acurate.

I clicked on 'follow'. I am still trying to get the hang of the new GW.

I love the first 2. PM me, please.

i sent a pm but they dont always go through. :( let me know if it does...

No, it did not, however - I have GW tied to an email addy I don't use very often. You can email me at carolyn18810@gmail.com or I am on FB at https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.madden.5

carolyn18810--I looked at your want list--I would love to trade Hoya Silver Queen [generous sized partially rooted cuts] for a couple African violet leaves or starts. Are you interested? Rebuilding my violets after furnace went out this winter. I couldn't privately email you,,,,,,couldn't figure out how,,,,,,,don't have facebook.--Thanks!--Rosie

Also, I don't mind NOIDS of any kind. Our store sells Optimara noids. That is mostly my only resource!

Also can trade this daffodil for violet leaves or plantlets [as soon as it is done blooming I will dig it.]

This photo is a little bright,,,,I don't know if you can see but it actually has green in the flower! And the yellow is a little deeper. It is beautiful!

shihtzu4su Am interested in trading with you [or anyone else who has leaves for trade]. Am interested in a leaf of the variegated one in your photo. Or anything really. I love all AV's! Have other houseplants I may be able to trade pieces of,,,,,,but because of the furnace mishap they [hopefully] are slowly recovering.--Thanks!!--Rosie

I would like to offer this method of shipping violet leaves/plantlets. I use an empty toilet paper roll. Gently wrap leaf or plantlet in paper towel [not wet] put in plastic snack size sandwich baggie, leave a little air in it so it is just a little poufy. [not so much that the violet leaf/leaves or baby can flop all over].

Gently flatten the cardboard tube just a little and put sandwich baggie in the cardboard tube. I usually tape both ends of the tube to hold the now oval shape of the tube securely. Address legal size envelope and put cardboard tube in envelope. Tape shut with clear packing tape. It costs approx $3 or less to mail this and you get a tracking # with it.

The little bit of air in the baggie and the cardboard are enough protection. Everyone who gets these plant packages from me remark on how great it is.

Try it! If I send cuts to you that is how you will get them!---Rosie

Rosie - I added you to my follow list so that you can pm me. I have an AV that is very similar to Hawaii. Do you have photos of your NOID's? I would be interested in seeing them. Also, I didn't see where Silver Queen was on my list, so maybe you can tell me where that is. I am still trying to get used to this new format. In any event, I know longer have this plant, so I cannot offer if for trade. Please send my photos of your AV's and we can work something out.

Carolyn

Hi Rosie,

Check out my trade list on my profile page for more house plants and outdoor garden plants I have available... :-) Here's the violets I have available. It's funny cause I just accidentaly broke a leaf off of my Edge of Darkness plant.. so I do have one I can send. Otherwise that one wouldn't be available either. I don't like shaving down my poor plants. ;-) I can send you one older leaf of my variegated... I don't want to pluck it clean. :) Send me a PM and we can talk.

(Currently Lil Balerina is not available)

Rosie - I PMed you... Hope it went through. This Houzz messaging system is SO faulty.

shihtzu4su--Would love the two leaves! I don't understand how to PM. I am trying to remember to "follow" people although I don't know the purpose of it. Help???

Carolyn you had HOYA on your list. Or I thought you did. Will double check....was trying to look at several people's lists to see if I could trade for AV leaves! My Hoya's variety is "Silver Queen". I will attach a pic. The cuttings have small roots on them. Just in case you want to trade for it LOL.

Will try to get photos of my violets posted.

Sorry to all,,,,am getting confused on how to do this.--Rosie

Hi Rosie, I sent you my email address... could you send me yours via message, and then we can go from there? I don't know why, but my messages aren't going through to people.

I am so sorry.....,,,,I just rechecked and Carolyn you DON'T have hoya on your want list. But eventually I would like to trade for a couple of your leaves!

shihtzu4su neither do you...don't know where I read it. So sorry. And I have yet to figure out how to make a want/trade list or PM anyone. Would you let me pay postage for the leaves? I feel I am really messing up here. Feeling kinda stupid.

If anyone wants to email me my addy is petalsanddolls@yahoo.com. I don;t know how to do it here.

I was working on my violets today and so far 10 of them seem to be recovering from the furnace outage.

I do have my 2 new ones I just bought last week [NOIDS] that already gave me leaves and unrooted "plantlets". I have got them in damp vermiculite as we speak.

I will post a couple pics from my file of the ones that are recovering.

This I believe to be Optimara Hawaii. I also have another one I bought at the same time except instead of blue it is pink with the white edge. Can't come up with the identity. The store I bought them from (Meijer) only sells Optimara I have been told. Both look like they will be ok.

Again, bought from Meijer,,,,,,Optimara Tradition, Victorian Charm Series--may be ready to trade a couple leaves from her in about a month. She weathered the cold pretty well. I think she is beautiful!

Oops, hit the wrong button. Don't have New Mexico,,, BUT this is just like one of 2 new ones I just bought last week,,,,again from Meijer so it has to be an Optimara of some sort. The one I bought last week is pink just like this, same type of flower with frill, but the frill is a dark raspberry and it has lighter foliage, I have leaves available from this new one. Also a couple of unrooted little plantlets.

This one,,,,again from Meijer,,,,Optimara Cora. That is what 2 different people told me. I just love it. It is coming back from the winter power outage and I am so happy. I just love this one! Not enough leaves to trade.

My other new one I just bought [Optimara,,,again from Meijer] is a very deep purple, single flower. I also have leaves from it but no plantlets. I have not taken a pic yet.

So the long and short is I have leaves from a single dark purple flower and leaves and unrooted plantlets from the single pink frilled in raspberry flower for now. The rest are in recovery.

Hopefully I can figure out what I am doing with this site so I can get down to the business of trading! Bear with me please!--Rosie

Carolyn the only Angel Wing begonia I have left is one that has rooted in water. It has ALOT of roots. I just never got around to planting it in soil. I will trade it!

And of course the Hoya Silver Queen rooted cuttings. I have several. Yep I will trade them also! If you want, I can send pics of both. Let me know!!--Rosie

Rosie -

Can you send the pictures please? Thanks

I am getting confused again. Bet I put those pics in another conversation in African Violets! That's ok,,,,,here they are again.

My AV's & Gesneriads "Fotos"!! · More Info

I love this blue color. It looks just like this. Got it at Meijer (where else!)

My AV's & Gesneriads "Fotos"!! · More Info

This is the actual color also. Turned out well.

My AV's & Gesneriads "Fotos"!! · More Info

This pic is too light. There is no where near that much white in the flower. Couldn't get the flower to darken. On the front flower, picture everything much darker with just a bare little lightness (but no white) where the lower petal is.

My AV's & Gesneriads "Fotos"!! · More Info

This one also is faaarrrrr darker than it shows. Really intense color.

My AV's & Gesneriads "Fotos"!! · More Info

This one didn't turn out too bad, see the raspberry on the frilled edge??? And darken up the pink juuuussssttt a little and there you have it!!!!!

Sorry but these violets are all from Meijer [big box]. I assume they are Optimara, haven't had a chance to match names with them yet.

Am I in trouble if I mention here that I also got 4 new Easter Cactus [Rhipsalidopsis] that are only budded, but boy are they pretty colors. The reason I mention them here is that I can trade a couple cuts from each one for a couple AV leaves. AND I have my other Easter Cactus, she is 45 years old and my friend was gonna toss her in the garbage cause she didn't want her anymore and on a hunch offered her to ME !!!. And she is bright fuschia. To see the pics go to my Ideabook of Houseplants. It is big so I have trading power there also. Just sayin!--Rosie

Hi Rosie -- I would love to see a photo of the one that is pink like Hawaii. I do have one that is very similar to Hawaii too and I also have Cora, so don't worry about those. I was looking at the pictures of New Mexico and I don't have anything like that. The one that is from the Victorian Charm series in nice too, so I would be interested in those as well as the one that you state has intense color. Thoughts? I need to see what I can take leaves from and get back to you. Is that ok?

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn! I don't have (or cannot find in my computer) a pic of the one like Hawaii only pink. I know if I took a pic of one I took it of the other because they are like twins! That is why I bought them. Exact same leaf, exact same flower type, except one flower is pink with the white edge and the other is Hawaii!!!.

The plants I can take leaves from are my 5 new ones. I put the pics in my Ideabook so you can see them. (you can see them there can't you? Or is that book personal? I never thought of that! Anyone know???) I can only take a couple leaves from the pink one with the raspberry frilled edge so I am limited on trading that one. Tradition isn't well enough to take leaves from (winter furnace issue).

But as I posted in a post somewhere (seems I can never get back to where I was!!!!! ) I will also trade pieces from my 5 new Rhipsalidopsis (Easter Cactus). Each one is a different color and again,,,,,in my Ideabook !!!

And are you taking about the two tone intense color or the solid one with intense color??? --Rosie

Oops, I forgot,,,,,Carolyn I would be interested in Frosted Cherry, Snow Jewel and Beauty Goddess if you still have them. I will find something to trade for them eventually!!!!!--Rosie

Rosie - I am still learning this site. I didn't know about the ideabook. They have changed so many things all around. I will have to check to see if I can take more leaves from BG and I also think I have more snow jewel, but not positive as I promised one to my stepmom. I have recently bought a couple of optimaras. I am pretty sure the one is Optimara Rhapsody Rita, but the other I am not sure if it is Optimara Gisela, Anika or Milennia. The flowers are single and similar to Rita, however the reverse of the leaves is red. Rita would be the one on the right. I will have to let you know if I have enough left for Beauty Goddess and Snow Jewel. I should have leaves for Frosty Cherry. Let me know.

Carolyn the Ideabook, suprisingly, is something I DID figure out!!! Go on your profile page and it will say idea book. Click on it and you can upload your photos to it and even put in a comment!!!! I think people can look at your ideabooks. I am going to go to someone's profile page and see if I can look at their book.

IF I CAN then I am going back to my profile page, make a NEW Ideabook and title it Stuff for Trade. And when I upload a pic I will label it with the name of the plant and how many are available for trade. I think that beats the trade list that I can never find anyway!!!

I would like Frosted Cherry, Optimara Rita, the Optimara similar to Rita, and Snow Jewel and Beauty Goddess if you have them to trade. I have the 5 leaves of my posted pics to trade + the 5 Easter Cactus + Hoya Silver Queen.

If I don't have enough that you want,,,,,Then just trade starting at the beginning with Frosted Cherry and go as far as you can! Let me know, --Rosie

Rosie - I messaged you. Let me know if it came through.

Yes I got the message!--Rosie

Carolyn, I just got those two you have above from a local home and garden store.

Rosie, I have leaves of Beauty Goddess I can share. (I have a promise to fulfill first, so I will let you know when I can send you a leaf or two.) Joann

47- I picked them up in Lowes. What was odd was they had blooms on them. Generally when I go to Lowes the AV's are in bad shape and they have long since lost their blooms.

Same here. It could be that is what Optimara is promoting this year across the country.

47 - it would be great if Optimara was promoting this.

Rosie - I do have the Beauty Goddess leaves and the Snow Jewel. I have many Christmas cactus and an Easter Cactus that has never flowered for me. I think I need to put him in a Southern window, so I am rather Easter and Christmas cactused up and will pass on those. I am interested in your Angel Wing Begonia, but do not want to take your only one.

Carolyn

Oh no,,,,,I didn't mean that was the only Angel wing I had. I meant I only had one left to trade! It is about 9 or 10 inches tall including roots. I will trade it. I would like to have the Snow Jewel also, is there anything else I can trade for it? The only other thing I can offer is a NON rooted cutting of the Angel Wing begonia. Oh and you know that these are the large Angel Wings? Not the miniature? If that is ok then we can make a trade! Let me know.--Rosie

Rosie - I would love both the rooted and the non rooted aw begonias. Do you have pictures?

I will take a pic of them. No problem. Rosie

Optimara picks out certain ones to push out each season. As for the dark blue-purples, like WY, or TX II, or WI, it is almost impossible to tell them apart. As for the solid reds, forget it!

47 - I have difficulities figuring out the solid purples and the dark solid reds as well. I have rarely seen some of the Victorian Charm series in the stores as well. I did grab one some months ago, but has not been doing well for me and I would not be surprised if I ended up losing it.

I have found that plants such as Rita or Maine II are not stable in their coloration - or from what I have heard, are susceptible to temperature changes. There are times with either plant have been almost white for me and other times, when I do see color. I have not been able to track that to temperatures though.

Jumpin' in here,,,,,I have trouble with dark purples. Sometimes they are very dark and they look like there is a little red tone in them and sometimes they are just plain daaaarrrrkkkk purple. But I guess that is the fun of violets. The only problem I have is that some are just too similar to where you can't tell the difference. Just my 2 cents! Rosie

About Optimara Rita,,,,,,I was going thru my saved photos and my question is....Is Optimara Rita really an Optimara? or is it a long ago Rhapsodie Rita? OR is it supposed to be called Optimara Rhapsodie Rita? Which would make it all one and the same plant?????

Here is a photo I found of what was labeled Rhapsodie Rita. The word Optimara was no where around.

Weren't Rhapsodies "invented" before Optimaras? Maybe I am trying to be too technical, but when I was collecting Rhapsodies there was no Optimara word. Any help? Thanks!!! Rosie

PS. I think that plant (by any name) is something I would love to have. (along with an explanation of course! lol)

It is Optimara Rhapsody Rita. The one I picked up looks very much like that, although there was no name, so technically it is a NOID.

Hi Carolyn,,,,I believe that it is an Optimara Rhapsodie Rita. So are we suppose to use both names? I guess that was more my question.

That AV is very beautiful no matter what they call it !!!! Thanks Rosie

Optimara seems to be the company name. Maybe it was not used as the company name several years ago. Anyway, most people refer to any plants offered by the company as Optimaras.

Yeah, I bet it just evolved that way. Rhapsodies were hybridized by Holtkamp,,,,,so I guess thru the years the name Optimara took over. Rosie

I think they decided to use optimara as the umbrella corporate name. In reading the descriptions, I see that some of the better varieties are hybridized by a descendant of Reinhold Holtkamp. He likes to come up with innovative product rather than the "same old, same old." They have different pricing structures so stores probably get just a couple of the fancier, higher priced violets and many more of the mid range priced, more ordinary violets.

Yep,,,,I agree. I guess in my "quest" for the oldies I am craving I want to figure out where everything went! AND where to find it again!!!!! lol Rosie

I like the swirled petal pattern on Rita and Cora. Looks like a rose. I just got one that is primarily white, more of a cream color. It has a faint lavender or rose color patch on a few petals. So it could be Rita. I got it from a familiar florist. So the plants are in better shape than the usual store O's. Meaning no suckers, single crowns. She gave me another that is not flowering. I think it is also white. She raises violets on her own at home. So we plan to trade our home-grown ones, not just her commercial ones! I am able to sell about ten of my Optimara plants that I can live without (even though they are nice colors), so that makes room for this. I suddenly "discovered" white. They seem to be popular this season. They look so elegant for the summer. Joanne

Joanne - Oddly enough, I too have discovered white. I have recently purchased leaves for Frozen in Time, Ma's Pillow Talk and Harmony's Lucky Lady. Funny, how one color is 'the color' and then it changes to another.

Oh Joanne and Carolyn I know it is a stretch but if either of you find Vintage White Madonna I will (almost) trade my soul for it! Rosie

Carolyn, At first, a couple of years ago, I did not like white at all! I thought they looked like crumbled up tissue paper. or even worse, all the whites named after snowstorms seemed annoying. Who needs to be reminded of snow? I liked very pale pink or peach much more. Then someone in my club who specializes in whites traded with me some exquisite varieties. Then a couple of vendors slipped some whites in with an order as extras. It was a conspiracy. Suddenly, I had whites blooming and a newfound appreciation. It often takes me a long time to be willing to try something new. Maybe because the plants are new, it takes a while to get used to them. I have to get unstuck from another color before I venture to a new color. Joanne

Joanne -

I love your conspiracy theory!

Part of the reason I am into White is, years ago, I lived with my Gramma and I was working in downtown Rochester. I had bought an AV at the florist at the mall that I frequented during my lunches when working in downtown Rochester. That AV has such special memories for me because I think of my Gramma.

I have identified the AV as Rob's Cottonball. If it isn't the same AV, it is very close. So naturally, I had to pick that one up. In searching for the name of the AV when I was living with my Gramma, many white AV's have come into view during my search. Now, I seem to be into the white ones. Funny how that happens, isn't it?

Carolyn

Yes, I get it! Will share more later!! J