The Illinois State African Violet Society Presents
Our 62nd Annual Show
April 9, 2016
"Memories in Violet"
Golf Mill Mall
239 W. Golf Rd.
Niles, IL 60714
Open to the public: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Please Join Us!
The Illinois State African Violet Society Presents Our 62nd Annual Show April 9, 2016 "Memories in Violet" Golf Mill Mall 239 W. Golf Rd. Niles, IL 60714 Open to the public: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM Please Join Us!
0 Comments
Hello again all you violet peeps. It’s almost springtime...yay! I’ve been getting several inquiries lately, and of course everyone is confused because I’ve been a bad girl and failed to keep up with my blog. Sorry! Life is constantly getting in my way, and I’ve had a problem lately because I just don’t know what to write about! I could just take lots of pictures and share them with you (I mean, who doesn’t love pictures of violets!) but doesn’t that just get old after a while? And I try not to go over the top tooting my own horn here, like, “Hey- look at my gorgeous plants!” Of course, not every single violet on my shelves is gorgeous. Come for a visit and you will see for yourself that every grower has a few problem children sucking us dry….the ones we just can’t seem to let go even though they just don’t thrive for us. (I’m trying to get better about moving those kinds onward, but you know how that goes.) Years ago, we used to drool all over the place when we had the chance to look at pretty violet pictures, and I even remember the days of drooling over the paper catalogs (we don’t so much have those anymore!) The Violet Barn used to have a great little pamphlet catalog with color photos, and I picked some of my very first varieties from those pictures. Of course now we have unprecedented access to beautiful violet pictures all over the internet. It just didn’t used to be that way. We diehards had to learn the “hard way” how to truly understand a description so that we wouldn’t be disappointed when the plant bloomed. Not anymore! Now we can see almost any violet we want before we decide if we want to grow it. And of course First Class has spoiled us, as well as the endless sites on the internet and facebook where we get to chat and learn from others who also enjoy the hobby. The times have changed, that much is certain - for the better, I do believe, but for those who are newer to the hobby, you can’t fully understand that feeling of anticipation waiting for the first bloom on a plant that you have NEVER seen a photograph of. Most of us now create our wish lists based on photos. And with that said, here are some pics for you to enjoy... Getting back to business, I want you all to know that while I've been bad about keeping the blog as updated as I would like these days, the plants are doing well and I’ll be able to sell leaves this year. The plants did not really like being in the cold basement this winter. Fortunately for me, it was a mild winter this year thanks to El Nino, so I have another 8 or 9 months to make a plan for next winter. Actually I already have a plan, but it probably really will take all that time to implement it. If you are thinking of placing an order with me, please know that as of right now, the inventory lists on this site are up-to-date, so make those wish lists and send them off to me whenever you can. While I won’t be sending out any boxes until it's warm enough here in Chicago, getting your lists early will help me a lot. I can repot (and pamper) those varieties first and even put down some “insurance” leaves. The orders will be sent out in the order in which I receive them, and since I don’t have several duplicates of each variety, get your name on the list soon before I run low! Some of the more popular varieties are quick to sell out in the spring, so the early birdies get the wormies. :-) As always, friends....Happy Growing! Slowly the basement plant room is coming together. Things are coming out of boxes and filling up shelves. The plants are coming out of baggies and going under domes - after, in most cases - a little bit of surgery. It's been a very basic process for the most part. I've been trying to make good progress - many plants inside the baggies have been pulled out, groomed to a nub, potted up in fresh soil, watered in and put in domed trays. In some cases, only a tiny sucker remains, but so far nothing newly planted has been lost. The "inventoried" stands are filling up with tidy, condensation and baby-filled trays while the "un-inventoried" bags are finally narrowed down to one and a half shelves. There are other fun little things to see in the plant room, although nothing is organized quite up to snuff yet. It's all a work in progress. Remember 2 blogs ago...from all the way back in November of 2013? I reported on a plant that had suffered from some stem rot. It was nearly a lost cause, really. I did my best to try to salvage what was left, but it ended up being barely more than a stub in the soil. Well, guess what? It survived! How cool is that?! It just goes to show you that these are tough little plants when you understand how they work. Even with a tiny bit of green, there is still hope! Since this little guy has been in a baggie for a year and a half, he's a little rough looking and does have some discoloration from moisture build up and temperature fluctuations. But, new growth is strong and fresh, and the plant is well on its way to a complete recovery!
Oh my goodness! Thanks to all of you who have reached out to see what is going on in my world and inquiring when I’ll be back on the violet scene. That is a fine question, friends! My world has been flipped on its axis in the last year and a half…between a very demanding job and yet another house move just last month; the violets have unfortunately taken a back seat. Truth be told, I have lost several varieties, but in today’s violet world, even some of the older and more rare varieties are becoming easier to relocate due to the online social scene that makes connecting with one another much easier. And perhaps, I will eventually be able to list some of the varieties I have lost in hopes of reaching those folks who have purchased them from me in the past. I am certainly not gone from violets for good, so no worries there! For now, however, my focus is on settling into our new home (which, hopefully will be our last!) After I get all my plant stands set up again, I’ll be rebuilding and restarting. That in itself is likely to take me through summer and probably also into fall. Allow me to paint a picture of my current situation. Sometime last spring or early summer, I condensed all my plants onto one stand. This was not an easy task! I had to water each pot carefully and then put them in baggies to “hibernate” while I focused on the rest of my life. There they sat for months on end with very little love. Some of them did ok in the baggies and kept truckin’; others failed early or succumbed to rot along the way. I never planned to have them in bags for so long. We had originally intended for our house to go on the market last spring! Unfortunately it didn’t happen until October, and then we had to wait through the market downturn, holidays, winter, etc. Occasionally I would peek in on the plants, but it became too painful and guilt inducing after a while. When the house finally sold, I opened each bag to inspect the plants, water them as needed, remove the dead ones, etc. I condensed them again and shoved them into long plastic under-bed storage containers for the move. This wasn’t necessarily a long move as the others had been, but a move is a move after all. My growing methods may be changing with our new house, because my plants will be living in a basement! I’ve never grown in a basement before, but I know many people do. I can use all the help and advice that you can throw my way, because I am honestly a little nervous about the cooler temperatures down there. I worry that the plants will get powdery mildew or that they will rot being too cool and wet. Do people have success wicking when they grow in a basement? Is it better to not wick? Please, some feedback would be appreciated.
I am slowly setting up my new growing space. It isn’t officially a “room,” but I’m going to make it as functional and nice as possible! Right now only one stand is set up, and the plants are still in bags. I have only pulled out 2 plants so far and put them on wicks in my kitchen window to see how they will do. So far, so good. Well, friends, I could write much more, but there’s no time right now. Stay tuned for more updates in coming weeks. |
Archives
April 2018
|