Where did you get it from? Without a tag, the ID can never be positive; however, if it was from some place where Optimara sells their plants (Lowes, etc.) we could give you a best guess. But even a best guess isn't a sure thing.

K. It was a gift. Don't want to ask. Thanks!

There are photos of the Optimaras in production at MyViolet.com although sometimes their photos aren't the best. Maybe that will help since a lot of "gift" plants do seem to be Optimaras.

It's true that at best, you will probably only be able to make a guess at it though.

Diana

On a related note: when I toured the Optimara greenhouses, someone noted that none of the plants had tags. The young lady giving the tour said that they no longer tag them. They expect buyers to look up their plants on the inter-net and ID them from there.

I thought that to be a poor practice. I think they need to sell their plants with an ID and not expect the consumer to try and figure out which plant they have.

Linda

Thanks for the suggestion!

I was on the tour too, and I remember the girl saying something similar, which I thought was interesting because the babies are all tagged. Not a tag for each plant, but a tag for a tray of identical plants. So they do tag them early in production, but maybe not tagging each individual plant is an effort to keep costs down? Imagine all those plant tags... Still, I agree that it would be better practice to tag them so we can know what we're buying, especially since so many of their plants are similar.

Years ago Optimara labeled their plants, but I suppose operations are now different & they probably produce a zillion more plants than thirty years ago. Also, AV addicts aren't their primary market, so we who want a name can visit the website and while there perhaps purchase a few with labels. It makes good business sense for them.

Terri

Optimara has addressed this issue quite a few times over the years. Apparently it's just not practical for them to label the ones that are sent to big box stores.

Selective Gardener is available for those who wish to have one with an official Optimara stake.

I believe Terri is right and the AV addicts are not their primary market. One sometimes runs into a bit of an "attitude" about Optimaras in the official AV world, despite the fact that Holtkamp developed the first commercial sticktite single blossom and that was a major breakthrough.

I remember those first Rhapsodies and they were nice plants and compared favorably to the other hybridizers' plants of that period. Holtkamp got flak because they sold them commercially, not through official AVSA channels then.

To me, the States' Series starts to look more alike than most of the other ones but coming up with 50 distinctive varieties can't have been easy. (Hawaii is an Island - is it because they did the States before it was a state?)

Diana (old, old Diana)

If you want more info, search out the thread with the name Lorraine Carr on this forum. She explains why they stopped labeling them for retail sale.

Monique Holtkamp also addressed it briefly more recently on the Optimara Facebook page.

Diana

Thanks!!

I am not certain the greenhouses supplying the big box stores in this area are Optimara.

The plants I buy are labeled "PlantWorld, Phoenix" which I assume is a commercial greenhouse. No other information.

Since I don't know if the plants I like or that grow well for me are Optimara's I am unlikely to buy directly from Optimara when I am looking for good named plant.

Optimara would do better to brand and promote that brand.

If I thought the plants I was buying were Optimara's I would be more likely to ask the big box managers to stock Optimara plants.

As it is, I don't because I am not certain I have ever owned an Optimara except for leaves I was sent recently by members on the forum who I assume, had good reason to claim the leaves were from Optimara's.

It seems poor business practice not to brand and promote your product by labeling it with the original producers name and perhaps what the product is.

Diana,

First class says 'Hawaii' was registered in 1987. Another one, 'Hawaii ll' was registered in '95. It would be interesting to know why it's in the Island series.

Linda

Okay, Hawaii became a state in '59 which was certainly well before Optimara started the states series. Forgive me, but I'm really not good with dates. I only remembered the States starting coming out really early when my mother was alive and well.

I had always assumed Hawaii was a State (series) until I was looking at Selective Gardener. Maybe it's a mystery. Like why that floral banjo at the convention had only 3 strings?

Lucky,

I believe that there are growers who can buy plugs from Optimara but don't pay for the Optimara labels. One of those may supply your local store. Either way, Holtkamp gets their money. They produce an unbelievable number of violets.

There is a Optimara Growers Catalog that shows what they offer wholesale. Just do an internet search for it.

Diana

Hello. I've enjoyed this thread, and many other threads here lately. It's so great to be able to come in and glean from the knowledge and experience of others.

I've been looking at the Optimara pages, trying to ID some of my violets, and I wonder if this one is a Pennsylvania or a Delaware. On the Optimara site, it looks most like the Pennsylvania, but on Google images, it looks most like a Delaware. I have removed it from the self-watering pot, and repotted into a 4 inch plastic with a lighter soil mix. It's liking that better.

I have one that I think is a South Dakota. So, can I ID them as such, when I want to exchange? These were both gifts, and I have several of the SD-looking-one, if anyone's interested.

Really, though, in the 2 months or so that I've been reading here, and taking advice, my violets are looking so much healthier and I'm enjoying them much more! Thank you so much, Folks!!!! It also adds to the enjoyment that some of you have been very generous with sharing/exchanging.

Sue

Sue, Concerning your Optimara pic, the first point you need to consider is whether the flower is a pansy type or star. The star will have six or more pollen sacs with petals of quite equal size & a pansy will have fewer sacs with the top two petals a bit smaller & closer together. While I can't quite determine the flower shape from your picture, I don't see that many sacs & if so that would eliminate both Delaware & Pennsylvania as they are listed as star blooms. Based on color and shape of the leaves, I would suggest North Carolina as a candidate but once again, a positive id is always tricky with Optimara reds and pinks.

Terri

Thank you, Terri. I see what you mean, and there are only 2 flowers on the plant right now, one has 4 pollen sacs and the other has 2, and the shape is pansy. I can see what you mean, that's hard to id. Where does it tell you if they are star or pansy? I just see that it says "single" under bloom type.

Sue, I assume you are looking at the varieties listed on My Violet? Along with the pictures of both Delaware & Pennsylvania, I see this: Bloom Type: Single, Star

Terri

I'm not overly familiar with the plain reds although I had O. Pennsylvania, but do you think it might be O. North Carolina II? I'm trying to match the leaves to one of the ones in production.

O. Pennsylvania is a husky one with a rather plain deep red blossom. I guess I do have a photo of the flowers when it was blooming.

Diana

Optimara Pennsylvania

{{gwi:367078}}

Diana

Thanks, Diana. It's close, but I don't think that's it. I'm wondering about Scarlet. Some of them don't give the shape on the myViolet site that I'm looking at. Anyway, I can tell that it's a pansy shape. Pennsylvania is beautiful.

I appreciate the help.

Sue

I wondered about Scarlet too but, as I said, I'm not really familiar with them. Pennsylvania seems fairly easy though. It does look nice when it's behaving although it's plain. The red is nice and dark and the leaves are a dark green. The blossom is just a plain star. I think there are prettier ones.

MyViolet is helpful but sometimes they say single when they can really be semidouble. I usually try to hunt down some other photos. Or their notion of purple is not my notion of purple ;) Good luck. Now I have a plain purple one that I may never figure out. Maybe Miho. Yes, Optimara Maybe Miho...

Diana

SueOK
I posted on a new thread that Optimara's Facebook page
has a post that shows four reds and their leaves side by side
to make comparison easier.
Joanne

Thank you, Joanne and Diana. According to all the "specs" listed there, it seems to be a North Carolina. I had really thought it might be a Scarlet, but the leaf shape isn't correct, so that settles that, huh? :)

Thanks bunches for all the helpful info.
Sue

Glad to see I'm not the only one trying to ID :) Here she is stopping by to say hello.

{{gwi:367079}}

rob333, Your plant looks like Seurat. However, I picked up one like this & was so pleased to finally have this variety and then it put out a few strange blooms that looked closer to Degas, so I didn't really know which it was. I think those two varieties must be very closely related.

Terri

Thanks Terri!

P.S. IF they are optimara plants, then the other may be 'Dali' (or it's a 'Summer Frost'). The Seurat and Dali are potted in one pot together, so it looks good!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:367077}}

This post was edited by rob333 on Tue, Jun 17, 14 at 15:07