Merry Christmas 2010!

Just a quick mobile post from Lenny's, where we are both wishing everyone a happy holiday today!
This plant is 'Del's Spring Blush', hybridized by our chat buddy Del from Canada who we know from the Violet Reflections chat room. Look for it in the new registrations soon!

Fuzzy Foliage is 1 Month Old Today!

Wow! A month in and I've already racked up 797 visitors!
I wonder if I can hit 800 by midnight?? Got any friends you can pass my link to real quick? Help me hit 800 visitors in my first month, just for shiggles!!
Edit: You did it! I'm well over 800 now, THANKS!! <3

The poll for this month asked what size African violets you grow. Here are the results:

15% Only standards/large (8 votes)
05% Only minis/semis (3 votes)
79% I grow all sizes (42 votes)
(0%) I hate polls (0 votes)

So it looks like the majority of folks like a lotta diversity in their collections!
I'm in the minority--No, not the "I hate polls" lot, the 5% minis/semis one. In fact I only have like, 3 semis--and those are only allowed because they're sentimental ones given to me by special people, or else I'd have no semis allowed at all!

The next poll will start on January 1st, 'cos I would like to have them go for a calendar month instead of starting halfway thru a month. Feel free to submit any ideas you have for good poll questions!

Well, that's all for now I guess. Thanks for an awesome first month, all of you! Don't forget to start leaving comments and letting me know more of what you want!

Micro Sinningia pusilla Babies--Now What??

I'm transplanting my micro sinningias from condiment cups sitting in a sealed GladWare® container to some individual glass thingies that I think will look very sharp when I'm done.

I'd always heard these things set (and spilled, and germinated) their seed quite easily, but as I was taking pusilla out of the old condiment cup, I finally got to be witness to it!

Now the important question--HOW in the world am I supposed to separate these teeny little sprouts so I can spread 'em out in the little glass thingy I wanna grow in? Eep!  
Any suggestions?? (UPDATE 2.21.11 I did it! Check out the video HERE!)

PS: I am sending this from my brand new phone, the HTC Evo. That's right, I've gone DROID, BABY! The incredible camera on this phone is what sold me on it! Now hopefully they'll send me some cash for saying that--I am still saving up for my Nikon, after all. ;-)

TriState African Violet Council 2010 Show Pics

I finally got all my pics done. Here's my favorite, not that I'm biased or anything!

Mac's Misty Meadow grown by ME that won 2nd Best Semiminiature

Ok, so you wanna see the rest I suppose? Here ya go.
Enjoy!

The One That Started It All....

The very first African violet I ever bought (a minature noid I bought at Lowe's in February 2007) is going into bloom yet again.
Every time it flowers, I am reminded of the mystified feeling I got when I saw this tiny fuzzy/glossy plant with sparkling purple flowers on the shelf at the store that night, when I scooped it up and brought it home, and how this whole obsession began...

African Violet Merch!

Who doesn't love STUFF? Especially when the stuff has African violets on it?
Check out my new  Zazzle store!
I'll be adding more stuff as I figure it all out... Please let me know what you'd like to see available!

More Family African Violet Abuse...

Against my better judgement, I just repotted the African violet ('Waterdancer') that Lenny and I gave my Grammy Golding for Xmas last year into a self-watering 2-part ceramic African violet pot. I tried to tell her it's not the greatest, but it's what she wanted. And my auntie Sally made the pot. So we'll see what happens. Watch it thrive just to prove me wrong :-)

Happy ThanksI'llDoItMyOwnWay

Here are the African violets I gave my dad last year for Xmas. I keep telling him the mini is NOT going to get bigger. I also keep telling him to put them all in lighter potting mix and SMALLER pots that are NOT clay, but I'm sure he's never gonna take my advice!
And they're still alive and blooming away, so really--why would he? :-)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

And Now, For Something Completely Different...

This has ALMOST nothing to do with African violets--Except that I DO happen to be wearing my 2010 AVSA convention T-shirt.
My BFF Shea decided to make this last night, and I got to co-star. 



I'm thankful for all the friends I have in my life. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Just Made a Quick Repotting Video

Comments welcome!

Rob's Tippy Toe Sport?

I just performed the anti-shrubbery surgery on that Rob's Tippy Toe that you might have seen on my shelf the other day... The bloom is weird tho, anyone know if there's a sport?
I usually throw stuff in the bin that doesn't bloom true, but I actually think it's way prettier than what Rob's Tippy Toe is supposed to look like so I kept it.

I HAVE, in the past, had Rob's Tippy Toe(s) that bloomed solid purple--which is a sport, but not a good sport, so into the bin they went. This seems to be different, because it's keeping some white... Altho maybe that means it's on it's way to solid purple? I hope not. We'll see, I guess. I'll try and keep it around to see what it does next bloom cycle, but I can't guarantee I won't get impatient and toss it--I can be very ruthless that way >:-)

UPDATE (3:02pm) Talked it over with Joe Bruns and there's no registered sport of Rob's Tippy Toe yet. So as long as this cutie doesn't go boring solid purple, I can propagate it thru 3 generations and register it. This will definitely insure that I don't get impatient and toss it! I'm off to put down leaves--AND I gotta think up a cool name now... Perhaps "Mermaid's Trippy Dippy"? Maybe not. Will have to think on it.

A Passion for Petrocosmea

I started coming down with some kinda stuffy-nosed thing yesterday, and today I am pretty sure it's a full-blown sinus infection--GROSS!

Needless to say, I don't feel like doing anything productive.

So while I wait to die, I am just gonna chill and read the entire A Passion for Petrocosmea blog by Tim Tuttle. I started reading last night and MAN has it ever hooked me! I don't currently have any pets (except my cats haha!) but I might try again after I read all this stuff. I do wish he had commenting enabled, tho.

It's always been so hard to find stuff about petrocosmeas online (or anywhere!), and I wish I'd known about his blog sooner!
 

Flower pic I took in March 2009 of my Petrocosmea menglingensis. 

(Or as we call it, "meningitis".)

Testing Mobile Blogging...

Justa quick post using my BlackBerry to see if this works...
Here's my pretty "2nd Best Semi" rosette from Tri-State last week that's now affixed to my stand for good luck!
(Please don't look at that shrubbery of 'Rob's Tippy Toe' in the back there... It is getting surgery soon, I PROMISE!)

And Away We Go....

Well there, I finally made a blog. I kept thinking about it, and admiring everyone else's, so I finally clicked the buttons just now to set it up. I'm sure I'll be messing with it a lot (title/layout/etc) before settling on a final look. Also, even though this is my first post, I will be back-dating entries from past adventures, so keep an eye on the archive! (aka "Old News")

Besides fiddling around with this, I'm currently editing MAAVS/NYSAVS show pics and adding them to their own facebook album as I go. Check 'em out if you'd like--You don't need to be a member of facebook to look.

So much work editing pics--I feel like I'm going cross-eyed, and my mouse-hand has blisters on it. And I'm only about 1/4 of the way done between this and the Tri-State batch that I haven't even started on yet! But it's worth it. :-)

OMG OMG OMG!! 2nd Best Semi In Show!

Today at the TriState AVC's annual show I won Second Best Semiminiature in Show with my Mac's Misty Meadow. The plant that won Best Semi also won overall Best In Show--So at least I was beat out by THE VERY BEST, which felt pretty damn good!

Yay!! And my rosette is PINK, what more could I ask for??

I'll be riding this high for a very long time!

Barn Booty!

Violet Barn booty, that is!

Here's a list of what I bought at The Violet Barn yesterday:
Rob's Bunny Hop
Rob's June Bug
Rob's Lucky Ducky
Rob's Lucky Number
Rob's Lucky Penny
Rob's Twinkle Pink

And here are a coupla pics to show the quality of the plants they sell--These are strait home from the shop!

Rob's June Bug

(8062) 03/05/1994 (R. Robinson) Semidouble blush white sticktite. 

Variegated medium green and white, glossy, serrated. Miniature

Rob's Lucky Number

(9802) 09/14/2007 (R. Robinson) Semidouble medium-dark purple pansy/white edge. 

Chimera variegated light-medium green and white, pointed, glossy. Miniature

Visit to The Violet Barn!

Lenny and I got quite a treat after the NYSAVS/MAAVS convention in Owego--We drove a coupla hours north-west to Naples and met Olive and Rob at The Violet Barn for a visit!

Rob and Olive by the sign

                                                             

They had a cool sign for us on the door.

When you first walk in there's about 10 million awards... This is just a few of them!

Then you go thru the door and enter heaven!

Ahhhhh, swimming in a sea of minis made this mermaid VERY happy!!

Violet Barn mascots Gus and DeeDee!

Holy propagation, Batman!

And a little bit of gesneriad propagation. 

Check out that Ziploc-file-system-propping of kolhleria!

Rob and the doggies.

Olive and a doggie.

This is in the floor out back. 

No, they don't cost $6.99--I am thinking they either met or were married in June of 1999. AWWWWW!!

TOP SECRET ROOM--KEEP OUT!!! 

(Of course we went in, we're scoundrels!)

Rob

Olive

The doggies are getting tired of us.

Lenny and I are VERY happy here! 

We prolly shoulda just grabbed a coupla job applications..

What a great visit we had! Of course we spent way too much money, and brought home way too much stuff--But how could we NOT? Hope you've enjoyed this virtual-visit! If you ever get the chance, definitely go there. Even if you don't like African violets (why wouldn't you?), Naples is a BEAUTIFUL area with mountains and trees and vinyards...

Oh, last but not least--A special shout-out of thanks to Rob for the AWESOME Ko's Grapefruit Julep he gifted me:

 The end!

Central Jersey AVS 2010 Show Video

In addition to the pics of the CJAVS show, I also made a video. Enjoy!

My First Show Plant / Central Jersey AVS 2010 Show Pics

Another great weekend spent photographing our club's annual show with Lenny.
I will never forget this show, because I entered my very first show plant in it!

My very first show plant entry! 'Little Blue Bandit'

I won a blue ribbon, and a gold 'Best In Class' ribbon (maybe a hollow victory considering I was the only one in that class), AND a fancy rosette that novices win!

WHOOHOO!

Well, enough about me!
Here's what you want: ALL the show plant pics!
Enjoy!