There are no true blue violets. All the 'blue' ones are at least somewhat purple. The closest to blue that I've seen is Rodeo Country.

Hi begonia, I don't want anything in trade. The postage is only to get my extra babies to someone who wants them. If you decide you'll take advantage of my offer at this time you can still pick what 8 you would prefer & I'll do my best to get those to you. Next step is to let me know you are interested & I'll send my address so you can send the cash for postage. 11 people have taken advantage of this opportunity in the last 2 weeks & all got back to me that they were pleased & will do it again when I have extras to offer again. This does a heart good that loves to share. Thanks for inquiring, Trudy

Jeff,,,,they choose to have a sales department that doesn't give a tinker's darn about what will make their CUSTOMERS happy. Have you seen their operation????? Take a look and get back with me. This is no longer a mom & pop company operating a few greenhouses in their back yard. Terri I will respectfully disagree. You cannot go to their website and "check" for any degree of certainty. Look at the other recent threads, and you will find us, the african violet serious customers, advising newbies that even if the pot has an Optimara label, you should always label it a "NOID-might be Opt. this". As has been stated, some people don't even want to trade for or put Opt. leaves in Round Robins. Why is that???? Because with no id to begin with they don't want to take a chance of passing along a misidentified plant leaf! And look at some of their color pix. Can you reeeeaaaallllyyyy tell the difference between a few of them???? I don't think so. I know I have my doubts about some of the colors and MY perception of what they are. Do I buy Optimara's? Yes I have, because they have a few I am in love with. Fortunately the ones I love CAN be ID'd because they are that one of a kind. Opt. MyDelight, Opt. Trinidad ll, Opt. MySensation and a few more. But the mainstream Opt's???? Good luck. Ok, I go into Lowe's. I look at all the plants (I am not just a violet person! haha). Other house plants are labeled. Outdoor plants are labeled. Rose tags say Rose Oklahoma, Rose President Lincoln, etc. Liriope is labeled as such. Hosta has a name to it beyond "Hosta"!!!! Do you think the average gardener cares what named Marigold, Hosta, Salvia, Helloborus they are purchasing??? NO! More of them don't care than do care. And these are things that will come up every year as long as they are taken care of! But the point is,,,they have real name tags that tell you all about the name!!!!! Honestly they just want to get it planted for color, landscaping etc. They are not passing them on by cuttings to the extent we are doing in basements, windowsills and any other spot we can find. But guess what.... Optimara says African Violet. That's it. Something that they know people set up lights for, propagate, learn about with various techniques,,,,,they know we cherish and keep and trade them with our friends,,,,. And they can't give us a TAG!!!!! A lousy name TAG that can be mass produced cheaper than we can buy 100 for online!!!!! ($1.78 free ship just in case you want to know!) Who do they think they are? They are snubbing the very people that make them who and what the heck they are!!!!! They labeled them back in the day!!! I still have some of the old tags! They got too big for their britches and thumbed their nose at the very people that got them there. I don't want to hear their excuses for no label. Worker's can't read and mix them up. BULL SQUIRT!!!! Then hire better workers!!!!! NO EXCUSES!!!! Ok off my soapbox now, not yelling at you Terri, or anyone else. I have said this very same stuff before about Optimara when this subject has come up. This is not a personal attack toward anyone except Holtkamp/Optimara. And any other company who does this. Shame on them. I am stopping now and I will post no more in this thread with my opinion about this subject. Whew. I am done. Rosie

I tried some Silverglades - 15 years ago - decided that the rosettes are not that great - long petioles and kind of floppy. If you feel this amounts to carefree - fine with me. Blossoms are interesting. I do not think that from another country means different genetic material. It still comes from Original 10. But good hybridizers develop their own line - and the plants are recognizable. Vintage violets are usually a good bet - because they already passed the selection - whatever was not up to par - is already went out of culture... and they are pretty stable.. Chimeras - you are absolutely correct - they are NOT stable. To keep them going you need an excellent culture - stress makes them sport to solids - and constantly grow suckers just in case. Old plants sport to solids - yup - because old age stresses them. (We all know that getting old is not for the weak..). Regarding chimeras being small, dull, unsightly, skimpy - this is not always true - there tons of chimeras - and there are good, bright and floriferous ones - and there are plenty of boring ones, stingy ones etc - just like the rest of them AVs - some are better - some are not. Absolutely all AVs look better under fluorescent lights. Reds and corals - look like dead meat under the natural light, but can be very attractive under a shoplight. Red in chimeras tends to bleed... in any bi-colors as well. Yucky, Blue/white shows well under natural light. You are correct - chimeras do not pass the same selection as other hybrids - just to have a pinwheel pattern is so rare and nice - you overlook the negative features. I was thinking - what will show well on natural light- Neptune's Treasure - lovely white and dark blue chimera. Lousy rosette though. Old chimera Chimo - large flowers - white and light blue - grows symmetrically, very floriferous - doesn't sport - xlarge one - will show well.