Looks like two different flowers! What a difference flash makes....I think that is a beautiful plant. Nice rosette!!! Rosie

Classic. Very happy leaves!

Thank you, lighting does make all the difference! As far as leaves go, does it look like I must prune them when repotting? They do look happy.

They ARE happy. So let them be happy. Plenty of time to prune. Rosie

Clever girl. I love your rose-ie avatar. Didn't think we'd notice...

Oh thanks! You mean the red and white rose? I believe it is called Osiria. I am not sure it is real. Ebay always lists a lot of seeds for sale to grow it. Roses rarely come true from seed. And they also have a purple and white one ALSO called Osiria. hmmm Just for grins & giggles here is the other one. Caveat Emptor!

But I liked the pix of the red & white one so I use it as my avatar for all groups I am in! Rosie

I agree about the rose Osiria. And now that you jogged my memory, I did google it when I started using the pix eons ago. I now remember it is real if you propagate it the correct way. (and that is NOT from seed!!!! Unscrupulous people!!!) But that purple one and many others???? From seed??? NEVER!!!! And THOSE are the people that give selling sites a bad reputation. Rosie

Not exactly what I wanted to hear, Anne, but I loved the color even before I read about it. Plain, fancy, doesn't matter to me, they're all special to me in some way as long as they're happy.

People who buy rose seeds looking at the heavily photoshopped pic... will get $10 of worthless seeds. But it was a nice dream...

Absolutely right Irina! And if they had just taken a few moments to google what was advertised they would have saved themselves some grief and money! Rosie

Oh have I got good news on this plant...

I showed my photos to the grower who gifted me this sucker...And...I had written down the wrong name. It's actually Harbor Blue and it looks like it should.

And I break out into my Happy Dance!

Another surprise: FC2 calls this a Large violet, and so I call it an Uh Oh...

I love that nice simple clear blue violet bloom. i adore fantasy varieties, but this one is just so classic and pretty!

This one is an outstanding show plant, Flowers have good substance, last for long time, bloomstalks are long and sturdy - so the flowers are floating above the leaves. Strong naturally symmetrical rosette. Great plant to have

Had no idea -- leaves seems sparse so that surprises me. I've read about pruning leaves to get plants ready but that wouldn't work well with this plant.

Thank you for the information -- seems I need to be looking at show plants and reading up on judging criteria for a better understanding of what they are looking for.

I hadn't really thought I'd have any plants to enter in the show as there are things wrong with all my plants. Kept thinking maybe next year when I know what I'm doing. There's an element of illusion when you're taking photos, it's quite another thing to pick up and really scrutinize a plant in person. :-)

Pruning leaves - is not what we do.

The most important thing you can do for the show - you disbud a plant for several months and then let the buds form in the last 6-8 weeks before the show. The purpose - grow a very strong hefty rosette - which in return will give an abundant bloom for the show, When the plant is not blooming, is regularly fed and has good light and plenty of space - it grows very symmetrically - and you only remove damaged and smaller leaves - tired bottom leaves - and sometimes a whole row of "baby" leaves - usually the plant throws a row of smaller leaves after some stress - if you let it go very dry for example. Each leaf is valuable - for the energy production and symmetry of the rosette - so removal of a leaf is done after a serious consideration.

If you look at your young plant - the leaves are growing in a very orderly way - each is exactly where it is supposed to be. The older leaf at 5pm can be removed - and you usually remove the whole set of 3 - so you check for the rest of the leaves on the same level. This variety will not build a tight flat roof tile looking rosette - it is not how it grows. But if you remove the blossoms and continue remove buds and suckers as soon as they appear - the rosette will bulk up in no time.

If you want to try - at least on one plant just for experience - get the book by Pauline Bartholomew - Something like African Violets - Growing to Show. It is a good book all around - on culture and so on.

Have Fun and Do Something Interesting with Your Violets in a Happy New Year ;-))!!!

I.

Exactly 2 months to show and since I've been wanting my plants to be blooming in the house, I missed following this year's grooming schedule to get a plant ready. Your explanation is super helpful and taking your advice, I'm getting that book and picking Blue Harbor as my 2018 plant to work on. (Sacrificing all those beautiful flowers will be crushing!) Maybe next year it'll be a candidate for the show. I have 2 of another named plant, Heavens A-calling, that I love and wonder if it's considered a good show variety. Never have been groomed, they both need Lots of work and much TLC. Like you once said, the blooms seem to last forever on them. This is one of them in all its wild ungroomed glory:

So I'm accepting your advice as my resolution to do something fun and interesting with my violets in the Happy New Year!

dviolet,,,,good for you for trying! Good luck to you and we all want to see a pix of that Blue Ribbon!!!!!! YAY!!!! Rosie

I do not see it as a good candidate for the Show. The rosette is pretty chaotic.

For the personal enjoyment it is absolutely lovely.

Regarding disbudding. Grow 2 starters of the same variety - one to bloom - one to groom.

Once a year AV magazine publishes the honor roll of winners - the plants that took the highest amount of BIS in all Shows in the country. That is the list you need to use to pick your Show plants varieties.

Very experienced exhibitors can grow a show plant out of anything.. almost anything - but it takes a lot of work and skills. For the beginners - better to start with proven winners. If the plant grows itself - less worry,

Plants with wavy leaves.. not for beginners. Blue Dragon - is a bad idea.

You have the best advice Irina. (Sorry to gush...but thank you.)

Found that AVSA.org has many of those lists on their site. Noticed I even had a couple on those lists already!

DViolet, Harbor Blue is a vintage variety, very hard to find! It grows large, that might be why the rosette is loose. Back then, rosette formation was not as much of a concern. That was a later development. It should grow well for you. The color of the bloom is one of my favorites. As for gushing over Irina, many of us belong to the "Irina fan club." Joanne

Stop gushing... I already forgot more than I remembered.. and my brain gets so rusty,,, will need somebody to follow me with a vacuum cleaner to pick the rust from the floor...

As the president of my club says, he has forgotten more than newcomers will ever know. Didn't you used to write for the AVSA publication? Joanne

FS, feeling so fortunate and thankful to have this plant now, I'll have to remember not to smother it with too much extra TLC, lol. Though with such a loose rosette and fewer leaves, I'll need to be especially careful (and worried) about accidentally breaking leaves when handling.

If Irina wasn't a writer for the publication, she should have been. :-)

With my aversion to organization, management and plane white paper... I am better hanging with you, my friends, and publishing my essays and treatises on Gardenweb - you are very forgiving - my typos, absence of articles, and a total chaos with verb tenses... do not seem to faze you. Can you imagine when some retired English teacher will read my article in AV magazine... and there are probably hundreds of them in AVSA... I will be the cause of a drastic dieout in AVSA membership.

Well then Irina that will be THEIR loss and our gain. We enjoy you very much! Keep typing, keep chatting, keep advising us and generally just KEEP BEING HERE!!!!! Rosie

I love ur writing. If u r critical of ur own , I would hate to imagine how mine effects u!!!!!! Ur writing is a delight to read. Uplifting and funny. I love the wit. Never stop. It s the most entertaining. I came here to learn the science and all but what a surprise to find u irina_co. May all ur av’s bloom loads and may I learn to follow the lead u set.!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you ladies! With age - comes arthritis - mandatory - and a little bit of wisdom - if you are lucky. It is so easy to bash other people plants, kids, decoration tastes - it is also very unwise. You do not make friends this way and you do not encourage people to do better. A little success today - if recognized - will bloom into something spectacular later. We are not born with knowledge. We learn. Hobby is not something you can read a good book on - and be an expert There is no book that covers everything. We learn by trial and error - by sharing knowledge with friends - and negative result is a result too. Knowledge spreads by osmosis.

Like any hobby - it is about plants - and it is about people.

Can you imagine the horror of owing and growing great plants - without being able to boast???

Would we be growing AVs if we would be stuck on the island? Alone?

Nope, I really want to boast. But need a bragging AV’s. Grow babies, grow. Plus I just sent VB more funds. I’m nutz!!!!!! But, I got what I wanted n more to share.

Ohhhh Cheryl, hope they come thru the weather ok.

Irina, as usual,,,,,you speak volumes of wisdom! Rosie

They r promised to b safe. I did pay extra to insure. Will post pics when arrive week.of 22nd. I know I shouldn’t have ordered. I even cancelled once had issues with PayPal ( that never happens ) n after days still reordered. It certainly is a extravagance. I am ill, so my acticvities and energy have been limited. I am so excited to receive these little ones. They are perfect little creations that do not stop giving or in any way disappoint. I am in Va so they are not too far away. I believe 12 hrs.

Stay Warm in VA. Hope all your winter starters will arrive undamaged - and will be in full bloom comes the spring.

Hopefully I can add to round robin. Again with the wait.

Irina, One reason I enjoy this forum is the sharing of AV talk. You have your own unique charm that shines through your commentaries. If you cared to contribute, the AVSA magazine would edit your articles for grammar. Anyway, we are happy to be beneficiaries. Cheryl, Lyon's uses heatpacks in their winter shipping, if you ever wanted to order from them. Personally, from Lyon's, I get better quality stock if I wait til spring or summer. They recover faster, too. Joanne

Fortyseven_gw - good to know about the quality and the heat pack. I didn’t find the info on the page I was on for shipping but did find it on the link for shipping from the home page. I think I can wait till spring now that I have a foundation stock to keep me busy for the next weeks ahead. But u never know! - haha

I would wait - or order from FL. I checked ebay - there are active sellers from the warmer climes than upstate NY.

Cheryl, I learned from buying from Lyon's that their spring stock is more vigorous. It will be from the same plant, just allowed to get bigger and enter its active growing season. The company advised that. I also do better with plants, not leaves. J

fortyseven_gw

-nice to know. I really think I am set right now. I am enjoying the interaction I get from the plants. Watching them grow and patiently respond to my learning efforts. Moving them from room to room. Today, I felt well enough to set them up for wick feeding. The baby makers were put on a heat mat and given a humidity dome I made from a clear storage container. I even added a grow light in the bathroom for the Rose Bouquet plant and broken leaves. Hubby has returned from his trip to find our bath is in a bit of a disarray. But he loves the flowers and understands it’s a work in progress. They certainly are adding to my pleasure. I am looking forward to applying more of the steps I’ve learned from the Garden Web forum. Everyone is great to interact with. I love the chemistry of some of the conversation too. It is quite addicting.

Good to hear you are feeling better. Glad hubby is understanding of your violets! Rosie