I am one of her many satisfied customers. I've only ordered once due to space limitation; this was a leaf order & they all arrived in fine condition. I've ordered leaves from many places so don't always recall the packing but I believe hers were sent dry as should be for leaves traveling any extra time & distance. By dry, I mean the leaf ends are not wrapped with any moist towel or paper. I live in Indiana so am nearer to her but leaves mailed this way travel well as evidenced by round robins; some leaves are in the box for weeks & are still in good condition.

I've never ordered plugs but have read posts from several who have & they were pleased. Do note that she only sends one leaf of the variety. My order consisted of mostly variegated leaf types & I think they all survived to blooming size. As to what to order, I can't help you there! She has such a great selection; it is difficult deciding. Terri

I've ordered from Bloomlovers on many occasions, both plugs and leaves.

Note that plugs are only available on SOME of her offerings.

I think that her leaves do come with the ends wrapped. I'd imagine that her website would clarify that.

All of her products are well-packaged and ready for planting when they arrive.

As for selection, I decide previous to ordering HOW MANY plugs/leaves I want to order ... and then make my selections to fit that number.

She just told me in an email that she's had tons of business and a lot of plugs are gone. She only had 2 plugs from my want list so I just decided to go with all leaves. You can get a lot more for the same $ but then you have to wait so long for blooms.

I have a wish list, but haven't decided to order yet. My first list was minis, this years would be trailers (easier, because there aren't as many), but I am waiting until after the TAVS show before I go ordering anything.

I bought from her at last years show, sadly I lost most leaves to rot because of the temperatures in my plant room...

Thanks, everyone, this has been great advice. Thanks for the tip that just one leaf is sent. I will try to wait for plugs. Karin, what caused the rot? Were the temps too cold in your plant area? Joanne

Temps were too cold because SOMEONE opened a window behind the drapes and forgot to close it. Nor did he mention it to me. It took me at least a week before I caught on. - the sun usually warms the room before I get up in the morning but at night it gets chill pretty quickly.

Plants started rotting left right and center. I think out of 20 leaves about 4 made it. They were on the shelf adjacent to the window, and the first to keel over.

These days I hardly lose leaves anymore.

She sends them in sealed plastic baggies/envelopes. The stems aren't wrapped. Although she says one leaf, sometimes she sends 2 and especially with small ones you may get 2. I noticed that with the unregistered little ones, I tended to get more. I suppose the demand isn't as high. I was trying to replace my little double white from Lowe's.

I ended up sending to BL a list of what I would like.

Karin, now I recall when your "SOMEONE" loved fresh air at night. I actually thought of that this winter when we had a furnace problem and did not have heat for several weeks. I followed your advice of candles everywhere at night. That helped. The plants that were the most sensitive were those closest to windows.

I haven't had problems with Tina's leaves although occasionally one has been "off." I never had to soak them or anything like that. My white hasn't bloomed yet but it's a symmetrical little plant. She may run out of plugs earlier than leaves. I've heard good things about them but never ordered them. I almost just ordered every big blue thing she had :)

There is a note that a $15 is charged for a phytosanitary certificate. I wonder if that is for some U.S. states, or only overseas?? She might know it Calif requires one.

A phytosanitary certificate is not required for every state, but perhaps for CA ...

She takes a few days to over a week to respond. I guess she's getting tons of emails and orders plus she sells on eBay.

She states she crosses the border with the plants and ships in the US. She has all the paperwork to do that.

I ordered from Travis this year. He has a very good reputation and a nice selection of plants. I was pleased with my one stop shopping. Anyone else order from Travis?

You might try going to the
http://www.bloomlovers.com/
and reading the link on

Ordering
Information

How to place an order (Français plus
bas)

Those should answer your questions.

Diana

Hi, Diana, Thanks! I did try. She wrote on her website to send her an email with the list of items wanted and she would get back with the availability and price. It is probably not shipping time for her region. If she sells on EBay, she might be very busy.

I have not ordered from Travis but hear great things about him.

I have ordered from: Bluebird, Jo's, FancyBloomers, Lyon's, Allegro , Violet Barn. And Optimara, which is the easiest on-line system to use.

I think about ten years ago there were many more vendors.

Joanne

I don't know what Tina (Bloomlovers) does about her eBay sales since I haven't been watching those. However she doesn't ship until later in the year, whenever her weather permits. She is in Canada. I have placed my order and paid for it (she said I didn't have to pay yet but I don't like stuff hanging over my head). She will get back to me later with the list and shipping schedule. I order leaves.

That's how it works.

You are right about there being more choices a few years ago. Now I have seen quite a few people say they are going to sell on eBay and I guess we'll see how that works out. I had to go to eBay, esp. after Violet Gallery cancelled my large order after holding it for 3 mos. but don't care too much for it either. I have found a few vendors I buy from but it still costs much more (mostly). Of course I still remember nickel Hershey bars too :) Bigger too.

Diana

Maybe because you are a regular customer, you get a response by email. from Tina.

Thanks for the feedback on EBay, I wondered if the bidding process drove the price up.

One of my Natalie plants just developed what looks like powdery mildew on many of the blooms. It must have gotten it from the store where I bought it where they do not keep the AVs separate from the other plants.

Now to do some research on PM. Do you repot your Optimara plants right away? I usually don't, but was reading some old forum posts from ten years ago. People were repotting back then. Maybe the O soil is better quality now. Joanne

It took a little while for me to get an email too, but I ordered in early Feb. I know they run out and, besides, they won't come until later. True, I probably shouldn't have ordered.

It does seem like prices went up since 2-3 years ago and it's not shipping. I had to up my ante to get things on eBay. There are things that go for a crazy amount too. My theory is I didn't have it yesterday, I don't have it today and if I don't have it tomorrow, it's not going to be any different. I would never pay $25 for a leaf.

I use Spectracide Immunox for powdery mildew. Yes, I do disbud and repot my Optimaras. I do it in the outer room with the washing machine and throw out the trash. I didn't realize if you kept the pots, Lowe's guaranteed them for a year, but I'm unlikely to return one anyway. I haven't gotten any for quite a long time - I think the batch with the "not Chicos" and Chico and maybe something else were the last ones. I still don't know who the "not Chicos" are. I may have gotten a myViolet. No - it was Dali. I remember now.

I repot everything as soon as I can.

Diana

Ebay is way too expensive for me. It is the $12 shipping that drives up the price. I might pay $6 for a plant but + shipping is way too much.

I might order 15 leaves and pay $12 shipping but that evens out across the board. I will not pay more than $3 for a leave in any event because if I do, then that drives the prices up for everyone. Who is going to take $2 for a leaf that went for $5 the day before?

Optimara or whatever plant is in our local BBS is potted in sludge, black, thick, untextured sludge. It never dries out. It looks like it should smell bad but it doesn't. I repot immediately. I don't know if this is a local thing but I bought variegated and other fancy AV's elsewhere and the soil was light, well textured and dries out occasionally. I don't know if those sludge plants are Optimara's but they are what I call "Optimara," or "Noid." No plant could long survive in that muck.

Some ebay AV sellers will sell their plants on ebay without going through the bidding process.

Bloomlovers, PJ Violets, Jack's Violets, and CV Violetry all sell some (in some cases, all) of their stock on a "Buy Now" option on ebay.

It takes a while for posts to show up. I just saw the two posts above. thanks for the tips on the EBay vendors.

As for the potting medium for Optimara, here is an older post from Nancy Robateille: "Soil from violets purchased in stores is usually pure peat moss which holds too much water. You need a mix of 1-1-1 ratio meaning one part vermiculite, one part peat moss and one part perlite.

Many growers make their own soil less mix using this formula. If you cannot find all the components, add vermiculite or perlite to African violet mix.

Let the plant dry out somewhat then scratch off as much of this soil from the plant. Place the rootball in fresh soil less mix and water from the bottom until the mix is thoroughly damp.

By the way, peat moss should be dampened before use or it will continue to dry out too quickly. "

Optimara does not use sludge, to my knowledge, which is sewage. Whatever they use, there is no odor. It seems to be sterile.

I learned a lot by reading older posts.

I normally don't repot until the plant stops blooming, but after reading recent posts from Diana and others, I will start to repot O plants once I first get them home.

Diana, thanks for info on spectracide, repotting and for identifying Chico. And for more tips on BloomLovers. Chico seems to be what is in my local store now!

Agreed, about supply and demand. A few years ago, prices began to climb and availability declined.

Does anybody know the system and they . Thank you very much

Excellent

i order so many times and i swear the owner she so professional and the pakage its no problem with enjoy your order