Well, Hello There..

I'm so psyched! I came home today from NJ and my Sinningia concinna greeted me with the first bloom I'd ever seen on it. Took almost a year but it was worth the wait, especially considering it doesn't take up much space.

Sinningia concinna

Nearby, Sinningia Wood Nymph has a flower as well. 

Sinningia Wood Nymph

And so does Star Eyes on the shelf above. 

Sinningia Star Eyes

Which is near Lexi, a semi chimera African violet (yes I still grow African violets too--I swear haha).

Lexi--Click here to order from LLG!

None of my plants will be good enough to enter at the AVSA convention next week because I missed some key "pay attention to them" times while I was away up north taking care of my awesome 90 year old Grammie back in March. 

But, at least today the plants are still showing me a little love on my stands, and that always makes me feel good.

Sinningia friends concinna (left) and Wood Nymph (right)

Oh Yes, I Did..

So I'm working right now and just happened to get a lovely Coach customer from AUSTIN, TEXAS! 

I took care of her purse inquiry of course--but then, (obvies!), I had to tell her allllll about the AVSA convention next week!

She said she loves African violets and wants to go. Haha how cool is that!? I hope to see her and her cousin there.

African Violet Nerds Mini Convention!

It wasn't really PLANNED, but 6 of us that are members of the African Violet Nerds facebook group (plus a little Nerd-In-Training) all happened to be at the Burlington show today, so we had to get a pic together of course!

Trish, Lenny, Abby, Jane, me, Neil, and Sandy

If you're on facebook, you should come join us! We have over 870 African violet growers from all over the world to help with questions, share pics, etc. etc... it's awesome sauce!
And of course don't forget the sister group Gesneri-Nerds for all you "weed" lovers out there!! Come join us, too!

Burlington African Violet Club Show 2013

Greetings from Medford, NJ where we're visiting the Burlington African Violet Club's annual show and sale. This year's theme is "The Antique Violet Road Show".

Sandy Skalski got out her broom and pretty much swept it. Every plant on the winners table except the strep is hers! Thinking I need to go sneak into her plant room and hook up a 24/7 surveillance cam so we can all be educated...

Best In Show, Best Species, : Saintpaulia 5f clone orbicularis
2nd Best In Show,  Best Fantasy,  Best Trailer: Rob's Boolaroo
3rd Best In Show: Foxwood Trail
Best Standard: Buckeye Cranberry Sparkler
Best Semi: Raspberry Glitz
Best Mini,  Best Variegated: Pink Dove
Best Gesneriad,  Best Streptocarpus: Kim,  grown by Sue Arnao

 

New 2013 Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses Hybrids

Wow wow wow wow--Paul sent me a buncha nice pics of his new 2013 LLG offerings!! Who wants to see some of my faves? (You can click each pic to enlarge, AND you can click the name under each one to go order!)

Frosted Brandy

Tahitian Sunset

Blue Haven

Lovestruck

Little Cherokee Chief

Rockin' Romance

Rockin' Rosie

Sweet Affair

Lyon's Zoe

Wanna see even more? Click here and go right to the Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses New for 2013 page. There's a LOT of new beauties this year, good luck narrowing down your favorites!

Southern Jersey African Violet Club Show 2013

Greetings from Egg Harbor City,  NJ. Lenny and I are at the Southern Jersey AVC's 2013 show which is not an official AVSA judged show, but a fun and interactive exhibit where visitors can vote for their favorites. They're doing great educational demos all day, and have sales plants from Fancy Bloomers too. Cool way to get the public reeled in,  I think!

Video: African Violet Trailer with Lenny (aka Lenny is Trailer Trash!)

Got a donation for my trip from a Fuzzy Foliage fan who wanted to see a video about trailing African violet care here on the blog. It's not really my area of expertise (not that anything is), so I cornered Lenny and made him repot one of his while I shot a video. Here ya go, Angel B--and everyone else!

New Way of Transporting Show Plants..

Hey, at least it's cushioned.

Garden State AVC Show 2013

A few pics from Violets In Vogue ..

Congrats to my friend Paula Bal who won Best In Show winner with her Buckeye Cranberry Sparkler.

Also would like to congratulate my friend Tim Ferguson who entered as a novice and was not only the novice class winner with Ballet Blue Ice,  but also won Best Semi with his plant of Allegro Pepto Pink.

(Hollow) Victory Is Mine!

Here's micro sinningia Lil' Georgie (who got his name spelled wrong*).

The good news is that he was a good boy and opened that flower I was worried about yesterday. The bad news is that I had to enter in the "non member" class.
Since it was the only entry, it won "best in class".
But... meh. Is it really competing if there's no competition?

(*At least it wasn't my name spelled wrong!)