Don't ever feel self conscious for posting pics! We love them. :-)

They look so good! And it's SO EXCITING to get plants in the mail! I've gotten lots of leaves in the mail, but there's nothing like plants. I can understand the feeling of pride... I just got an order of four in yesterday also. ;-) Lillian Sparkler, Rob's Cool Fruit (mini), Wrangler's Cowboy Blues, & Picasso. I'm so excited about all four of them... and they are all variegated. My favorite. ;-) Two pinks, a blue and a purple. And all double. Ah. you can't get better! :-P

Have fun with your new violets!! And don't feel too guilty if you spend WAY too much time hovering. :-P

It is really exciting! :D I've always wanted a variegated violet, but whenever I looked at local nurseries, the plants were in really bad shape and those that had variation didn't have much. I'm really glad I got a couple nice ones from LL! There was a miniature with a blue flower I wanted but it wasn't in stock :(

Do you have pics of your plants? I looked up the species (kinds?) on google but I'd love to see yours :D

I know I'm gonna hover a lot xD They're just so addicting! and there's so many different kinds, it's easy to want more!

hi, Endi, The plants you got from lyon's are beautiful! This is a good time of year to order from them. Then they have a sale later in the summer! i like the variegated one, too. As for your other plant, yes, it looks like sunburn. you can allow the leaeves to remain on the plant. As the plant grows out more green leaves, you can slowly begin to remove the sunburned leaves, one at a time and start to root them. They might reproduce for you.

Su, how nice that you got some new plants! yes, leaves are plants for the future, one year later .... !!!

By the way, the leaves you sent me are doing great. i feared for a minute that i was losing some, but i domed them and they rallied!

joanne

Nice new plants and no apologies necessary for posting or posting photos - it's what makes coming to this site fun reading when there are new things to see! (And what makes coming to this site dangerous: now I have to put Ness' Cranberry Swirl on my want list. )

hi again! you asked to see my new babies.. :)

wranglers cowboy blues - this is one i have not seen many places!

his is Lillians Sparkler. does anyone know who hybridized this one?

his one is M. Tremblays Picasso. have seen some GORGEOUS pics of this one! i also got Robs Cool Fruit... which is a mini... but i forgot to take a pic of that one.

and heres two others that i love!

snow jewel

grandifolia 299 this is my only species violet! i was so happy to get it!!

Wow, again, Su!!! Good for you!!! Have fun and congratulations!!! I also have my blooming Optimaras and my "designer jewels" in other rooms. Joanne

joan, what is it about optimaras that will just steal our hearts??!! i dont quite understand it... except that maybe they bloom better and faster than most? i dunno, but they are rather special to me. its kinda funny when i start counting colors, i have 3 blue ones that are similar shades... and 7 that are shades of purple and pink. and 10 out of the 14 Optimaras are double or semi double. chuckle. i still love my fancy violets too! ive only had 3 of them bloom though... hopefully by this fall, my small "designer" section will all bloom. and then next spring... im going to have blooms from all the babies i have down!! :) :)

heres my one "designer" violet (instant attraction) that has bloomed longer than even my Optimaras! i love her big round leaves.

fortyseven: uh oh, they have a sale late summer? My windowsill will love that, but my wallet will not xD My sunburned plant looks much better now that it had a cloudy day to recover. The leaves that were black and mushy from the heat are stiffened back up now, but the color hasn’t gone away. I think I’ll definitely do what you suggested and remove the sunburned ones once the plant makes new leaves to fill in that spot :)

AnneCecilia: It certainly can be dangerous! I keep seeing such beautiful species that I want :O I definitely recommend the Ness’ Cranberry Swirl; when I ordered it, I forgot it was a semi-miniature so when it arrived my reaction was very “HOLY CRAP ITS SO CUTE AND TINY!”

shihtzu4su: your babies are all so gorgeous!! the picasso and the snow jewel are so cute! I love happy bright green leaves c:

Endi, the new growth comes at the top, at the crown. New leaves won't fill in blank spots where old leaves are removed. If something starts to grow in an pry spot, it is a sucker and should be removed. Joanne

Pry should be empty.

Oh, yes, I figured as much. I meant that once the leaves in the row above covers the spot where the old, damaged leaf is. But I didn't know suckers could grow in that spot so I'll definitely keep an eye on that O.o so thanks!

Yes, violets are different from other plants. Lyon's has a 15% off sale sometime in the summer, maybe in August.

Su, when i see the optimara pots bursting with blooms, i observe people passing by the display. if the Trader joe's puts it in a strategic spot by itself, then it is fun to watch people grabbing them and putting them in their carts without a second thought, as though picking up a dozen eggs. it is especially fun to see the little kids pick up the pots. They are just child-sized. When we have a sale with our club, I especially like to see the small children come and pick out a pot of violets. I like to see what colors they pick. The violets are already child-sized. For myself, i don't do all that well with minis, also, i feel that all violets growing out from leaves go through a mini stage, anyway. i like a full grown standard, a finished plant that can be very rewarding. most people buying optimara's in retail stores probably don't realize the potential of the plant. That is one reason why our club prefers to groom plants before selling them. Then when the plants go through that 'awkward teenage stage" of losing all their blooms, most people don't know what to do with the gangly foliage. i didn't before reading the forum.

That is almost always when i donated all my optimaras to the neighbors. then the neighbors would come back a few months later with photos of the plants reblooming like mad. joanne

Out of curiosity (since we're talking about leaves), what should I do about my Scorching Sun's long leaves? All the articles and question I'm finding keep talking about how long leaves are a sign of lack of light, which I already knew, but I can't find much info on what to do other than giving it more light. The longest outer leaves are starting to droop down to the sides of the pot and it hardly has any leaves to begin. I'm just not sure what to do with such a leggy plant?

Are you growing your babies under grow lights & are you wick watering? It looks like the pots are in other containers & is that to get them closer to the light or for water? Nice collection & I too like Ness' Cranberry Swirl. Carole

That makes sense! I didn't know that was common, so that's comforting. I'l keep an eye on it and try to groom it once the crown starts to round out.

Carole, they're on a north facing windowsill that gets a good amount of indirect light. They are not wicked and I water from the top (being careful not to get any on the leaves), because in the past I've had a lot of trouble with watering from the bottom. I'm not sure if I didn't have the right materials for wicking or whatnot, but the water never reached the violet's roots and so they would die from being too dried out (I'd check the roots and they'd be super dry and almost crunchy). They're directly in their current pots, and those that didn't have holes at the bottom, I had my dad drill holes in. I need to find a good size pot for Ness' Cranberry Swirl since it's root base doesn't fit in anything smaller than the pot it came in xD

Endi, If you are referring to the Scorching Sun above, it looks fine. They all have different growth patterns.

Regarding your comments above about water not reaching the roots with one plant, maybe you can repot it with fresh potting mix. I just watched a video on wicking, she said to make sure the wicking mix has 50% perlite because it is staying wet. Joanne

Hi Su! I love your pix!!!! And I was really excited to see Lillian Sparkler! That type of variegation on that foilage is from Lillian Jarrett! She was a real oldie and still a goodie if you can find her. I would know that foliage anywhere!!!!! Rosie

Rosie, Back in those days, how did people communicate? I will bet the clubs and magazine were a lot more important then they are now. Also, maybe there were catalogues to order thru the mail. My hobby really grew because of the internet. Once my AV mentor gave me my first variegated violet, Private Dancer, and a companion pink fantasy violet, I got really curious. They were so different and unique. Now, we so take them for granted. Joanne

Ahhh communication! We wrote letters, or if we knew the person we waited until Sunday when the rates were cheaper and called by phone. But couldn't talk long because of toll charges.

Yes the AVSA was an important way to find out what was being hybridized and registered. There were no NOIDS then. I don't think there was much trading leaves thru the mail. Mostly you bought your violets in the stores. They all had tags in them. I even remember that some of the tags were hand written with big black marker. (didn't have sharpies then!)

Trading thru the mail was not something anyone did. If a violet came in the mail it came from a greenhouse that you ordered it from.

Also there were a lot of florists in my area that also had their own greenhouses (for raising bedding plants, glox, cactus etc) and they also raised violets from leaves. They would order leaves from Lyon, Tinari etc., put them down and raise them for sale. A wide variety of plants would end up for sale.

The same violets that were registered (AVSA) were the ones in the stores for sale. Imagine that! Optimara was just coming into it's own. There were some of them also for sale. One of their early ones was Opt. Elfriede. Would love to have her again. Guess you call her Vintage!

Yes there were tons of color catalogs you could send for cheap or free. I would dream about the violets in them and would be sooooo excited when I would be at the store and be able to actually buy that violet!!!! As I have said before,,,I still have some of my favorite catalogs and I look at them for reference. AND memories. AND information.

Just this morning I was looking thru an old AVSA mag and saw the color pix of mini Pip Squeek sitting in the top of the head of a ceramic Snoopy dog. How cute. That is what we did. That was my world in SE Michigan! Rosie

At some point, the O company decided to develop into a big business and be very commercial and then national and international. Heck, they even orbited the Moon! Many Optimaras that are still out today are vintage. Such as Manitoba. I am glad it is still in production. And some of the purples date back to the vintage era. The original violets were called under the owner name. When the Rhapsodie, series came out, the manufacturer was still Optimara. I do recall that the pot or sleeve just said Rhapsodie. Now, the company uses the Optimra logo for all their series. I especially like the Rhapsodies. Anyway, sounds like a fun time! Joanne

The Rhapsodies were a nice group of plants. I loved R. Elfriede, R. Gigi. Those were two of my favorites. Then they were releasing the ones named after the states. I do have a couple of those as we speak!

Below, Opt. S. Dakota

Below, Opt. Michigan

Below Opt. Hawaii

I also wanted to say, even though we could order named varieties from our local stores and florists, we still got the (color catalogs) price lists because there were always a bunch you could only order thru the mail!

I was looking at the back of an old AVSA mag and was chuckling over the pricing. I could order a violet for $1.98 plus shipping! by mail. for some reason though the plants in the store were always much larger!

I know they can't ship those large ones. It is the same today I am sure. But no matter where you get them from (even the clearance rack! Yes I do that also....just feel sorry for them!!!) They all shape up to be one thing,,,BEAUTIIFUL!!!!!! Rosie

Nice photos. Plants ordered from Selective Gardener, Optmara's direct mail division, are the same size as in the stores but cost three times as much, plus shipping. The one shown above might be Natalie. Similar to Texas, only a lighter shade and more purple in color than violet. Texas is very dark blue-violet. Plants ordered from other commercial vendors are usually starter size. Optimara also sells starter sizes, called plugs. And they sell leaves. People are so accustomed to the "instant gratification" of a plant in bloom, that if they are not experienced, many do not realize the plants have potential to get much larger. Joanne