Due to life's circumstances, I've not been able to attend or participate in the IAVS show since 2013, and I had been too busy to even consider prepping show plants this year. Our beloved member and show chairman (Micheline England) passed away very suddenly in February, knocking everyone for a loop and leaving the committees to scramble to put together this year's show. We knew it would be a small show, so everyone was encouraged to bring anything with blooms!
I typically keep the majority of my plants somewhat disbudded, especially in spring and summer months so that they can focus energy on producing foliage, but I scrounged the plant stands looking for plants that could pass muster. I chose three. One I knew would be good enough (certainly not the best I could have done if I had put the plant on a show schedule,) but the other two were very iffy. Not enough foliage and barely enough bloom, but I took them anyway. From L to R they are: Precious Red, Optimara Little Ruby and Jolly Disco.
I typically keep the majority of my plants somewhat disbudded, especially in spring and summer months so that they can focus energy on producing foliage, but I scrounged the plant stands looking for plants that could pass muster. I chose three. One I knew would be good enough (certainly not the best I could have done if I had put the plant on a show schedule,) but the other two were very iffy. Not enough foliage and barely enough bloom, but I took them anyway. From L to R they are: Precious Red, Optimara Little Ruby and Jolly Disco.
I entered the AVSA collection class, hoping they'd at least get blues. They did, and I ended up with best mini collection. It did help that mine was the ONLY mini collection, but let's not get caught up in the details. LOL Precious Red also won Best Miniature!
S. rupicola, grown and shown by Adrienne Rieck. BEST IN SHOW, BEST SPECIES
Jersey Snowflakes, grown and shown by Adrienne Rieck. RUNNER UP TO BEST IN SHOW; BEST STANDARD
All in all, a great show, even though it was a smaller one. I met some new friends, acquired some new varieties (thanks again, Annie) and enjoyed talking "violets."
Here is a not-so-funny story. The club purchased some plants from the Violet Barn to sell at our show. While I rarely purchase/acquire plants (99% of the time I only add leaves to my collection for safety's sake,) that wasn't an option this time around, so I had to knuckle down and fork over the cash for plants that I would pare down. For me, a lot of work goes into acquiring plants, since I break them down, repot, treat with Marathon, AVID, and whatever else I can find, but there were several little Rob's varieties on the sales table that I just couldn't resist, some of which I had lost in the latest move! I splurged and bought a half dozen baby plants and then accidentally LEFT THEM AT THE SHOW VENUE, tucked in a bag, on a shelf, behind a counter in a vacant storefront. No one would ever find them, and they would certainly die a slow and dry death. The mall where we held the show is an hour and half drive from my house!! What's a girl to do?!? I got on the horn to all the folks I thought might help, but it just wasn't going to work out. What was a girl to do?! After much deliberating and boo-hoo'ing over the state of events, I finally just grabbed the hubby and told him we were going out on a Sunday afternoon road trip to rescue the poor little souls. The storm was coming in, but we thought we could miss it if we got a quick start. Traffic on the Chicago tollway is horrendous, even on a Sunday, but we had to try! When we arrived, we made our way to the manager's office only to discover it was closed!! Just when we thought all hope was lost, a security officer walked by and took charge of our problem. He led us through he dark bowels of the mall until we found ourselves out in the light again a few steps from the vacant storefront. I slipped inside and with great relief I scooped up my bag of little plants. It cost me a lot of money to purchase and retrieve those little guys, but now they're all safely tucked in their new homes and will hopefully repay the favor someday. :-) It's all for the love of violets!
All in all, a great show, even though it was a smaller one. I met some new friends, acquired some new varieties (thanks again, Annie) and enjoyed talking "violets."
Here is a not-so-funny story. The club purchased some plants from the Violet Barn to sell at our show. While I rarely purchase/acquire plants (99% of the time I only add leaves to my collection for safety's sake,) that wasn't an option this time around, so I had to knuckle down and fork over the cash for plants that I would pare down. For me, a lot of work goes into acquiring plants, since I break them down, repot, treat with Marathon, AVID, and whatever else I can find, but there were several little Rob's varieties on the sales table that I just couldn't resist, some of which I had lost in the latest move! I splurged and bought a half dozen baby plants and then accidentally LEFT THEM AT THE SHOW VENUE, tucked in a bag, on a shelf, behind a counter in a vacant storefront. No one would ever find them, and they would certainly die a slow and dry death. The mall where we held the show is an hour and half drive from my house!! What's a girl to do?!? I got on the horn to all the folks I thought might help, but it just wasn't going to work out. What was a girl to do?! After much deliberating and boo-hoo'ing over the state of events, I finally just grabbed the hubby and told him we were going out on a Sunday afternoon road trip to rescue the poor little souls. The storm was coming in, but we thought we could miss it if we got a quick start. Traffic on the Chicago tollway is horrendous, even on a Sunday, but we had to try! When we arrived, we made our way to the manager's office only to discover it was closed!! Just when we thought all hope was lost, a security officer walked by and took charge of our problem. He led us through he dark bowels of the mall until we found ourselves out in the light again a few steps from the vacant storefront. I slipped inside and with great relief I scooped up my bag of little plants. It cost me a lot of money to purchase and retrieve those little guys, but now they're all safely tucked in their new homes and will hopefully repay the favor someday. :-) It's all for the love of violets!
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