Stunning violets! I've never seen blooms like Winter Hawk or Lady in Red's!!

I'm surprised to hear that about Optimara Everprecious though! I don't have any experience with it, but the pictures that come up when you Google it seem to make the blooms like kinda big... Then again, compared to how big it's foliage is in some of these pictures, the blooms seem to be dwarfed.

My Everprecious bloom looks nothing like what I've seen online ,,, except for the coloration.

And my plant is not really large ,,, more the size of a semi-mini.

Oh well, ... we'll see what she does in the next few months.

Oh wow. Yeah, I say give her some more time. She may be really young (or just a slow grower)! Good luck. If she ends up putting on a show, make sure to post pics! I'd love to see. :)

Your plants are Beautiful.Love them.

EverPrecious was a excellent grower for me with nice sized leaves and flowers. After awhile, it went into decline, no doubt my fault for not repotting when needed, and eventually faded away. While I consider this one & EverBeautiful success stories, I have not always found others of the space violet series to be strong growers.

Great looking plants by the way! Lady in Red is so striking.

Heres a look at my EverPrecious from a couple years ago:

Eye Candy galore! Some gorgeous plants to see!

Terrilou -

My understanding is that the violets lose their vitality and ability to bloom after 2 years. So - even we know that it is possible to keep them longer - Superman was kept alive for 53 years! - it is a good idea to have them restarted by a leaf - or by rerooting the crown. Gives them a new life. So when you have your EverPrecious replaced - make sure to stick the leaf for propagation. I am pretty sure that 1 year without repotting can be a borderline to a death sentence - depends how wet you keep them. Hand watering and keeping them on a dry side keeps the soil mix fresh and prevents peat from a fast deteriorating to an acid mix. Wick watering - in a year the soil starts smelling like a vinegar - and the plants cannot absorb nutrients, roots catch rot and off it goes. I am all for wick watering - the results are better - and it saves time - but we need to repot more often.

i.

Irina,

So glad to have you back! We have missed your insightful comments for too long. About my plant, I did set some leaves but eventually let them go in last year's major purge. Maybe, I will grow it again sometime after I try out some of these many others on my list!

Terri

Terri, You did a major purge? I am about to ..Joanne

Yes, a major purge for me. I don't recall how many plants/varieties I eliminated because I don't keep records. It is tough but rewarding when you find room on the shelves. My numbers are mounting again, but thankfully an AV club has recently formed in our area and we will be having a plant exchange at our next meeting. Now the challenge is to return with fewer plants than I bring!

Terri

I take sports and noids to the Senior Living, where my Mom lives. Beats the Dumpster. And old ladies will have some fun.

Aegis,

I love it how your plants seem to produce so much bloom in window light!

Do you also have them under artificial light?

Lovely, all of them!

I use a combination of window light and CFL's ...

If I had a good southern window, I likely wouldn't need the extra light there, but I don't, so I supplement to fairly good effect.

I used to hang shop lights years ago, but I've decided that I want a more "decorative" (less work-shoppy) look, so I use CFL's in desk and clip-on lamps.

All of my plants don't lie as flat as I might like, but they bloom fairly well.

I use two CFL-illuminated desk lamps on this display upstairs ...

P.S. The "blue" violet is Iceberg, and there's also Pretty Miss Kelly, King's Ransom, Blue Mist, Private Dancer, and a couple others.

They do bloom amazingly well...you must have just the right combination of light and everything else!

I have most of mine against a south-east window supplemented by artificial lights (2 grow fixtures from Wall-Mart, probably the least expensive grow lights out there). Those fixtures fit my shelves well so I never tried anything fancier.

Only a few sit on a corner decorative stand where they only get window light - but they take that place when they are already in bloom. Most are raised on the "work-shoppy" stand with both artificial and day light - whatever is available in the cold seasons.

Those tend to grow flat, with relatively short petioles...but the bloom...I don't know...I still feel they could produce better than this. They do bloom...just not as profusely as I would like them to.

TerriLou, that's interesting, to have a club forming. If you bring some home it will be new for you. I brought some blooming plants in decorative pots with paper and ribbon trim to an event as table decorations.

Aegis,

Thanks for posting the photos of your violets in bloom. The BlackSwan is a beauty. Now that you explained about your fertilizer you used for many years, it might be the reason your plants do so well. Also, you are a serious gardener, monitoring the collection and providing the plants what they need.

All,

My Optimaras are slowly being donated to events. I have been making presentations much like a florist display, using baskets or painted tin containers, tissue paper and raffia ribbon. The perfect round fan shape of leaves of the Optimaras with the bouquet of flowers held high makes for a nice table display that guests are accustomed to expecting for a centerpiece.

Joanne

My Mom's senior friends cannot keep them alive - not enough light for them and no windowsills to talk about in a building. But ladies enjoy some nice blooming time.

Irina

PS problems with grow lights from WM - replacement bulbs are hard to find...

Oh Goodness!!!!!! How did I miss this "food for the soul"??????? Beautiful!!!!