ummm..i'm loving that one!! two of my most favorite colors!!!

I almost didn't accept this plant from the generous grower who offered it to me but I was intrigued by her description of its flowers.

NOIDs...are like a...box of chocolates...

No, wait, NOIDs...are like opening an...oyster...

How about this...NOIDs are like panning for...gold...

Or, NOIDs are like mining for...gems

Heheh -- unblooming gifted NOIDs are...nothing to turn your nose up to.

Just Say NO. You take them in - and sooner or later the lost name will start bothering you. If it looks like Optimara... you have a remote possibility to shuffle through their postings and guesstimate. There are people who love them because they are "soooo cute" - and throw away the labels. But in my experience people who actively working to perfect their growing technique, interact with similar minded AV lovers - prefer named varieties. It is like missing the whole history... the story of the person who created them, the peculiarities of of his hybrids, the lovingly picked names, the personal stuff. It adds so much to the flavor...

It can be NoID - but if it is a plant your Granma used to grow...you love it so much more.

I have a couple of NOIDs, but they both have a story. One is the very first violet I ever got -- that started this whole shebang. And the other is a simple solid purple NOID from a leaf that my grandma sent me when she discovered I was growing them. Neither of them are spectacular in either growing habit or blooms. But I enjoy them nonetheless.

Now this one will have a story, too, and I will love this plant just so I could continue telling it. ;-)

And Irina, I Tried to say No, I did, but as a newbie, who am I to act like a violet snob at this point in time, lol.

I do see your point and do agree that having a whole history behind the named violet enhances the plant's appeal.

Looks like a dead ringer to me! Some things you just can't dispute. If it walks like a duck,,,,,,,,,,. Beautiful!!!!!!! And love that story! Rosie

I think the leaves look a bit different, the second photo has more wavy leaves. The color of the leaves and blooms look exactly alike. You can call it Antique Noid.

:-D Gotta change my spreadsheet entry Amy!

Ha! Just say NO! Good one.

It's hard to resist that little box of fading jewels poking their heads out over the top of the flat that they arrive in. Lowes and Home Depot lovingly place them in the semi air conditioned part of their nursery so that we can find them in their half dead state and feel sorry for them!

They need to have an employee or two out on the street corners with their boxes of dying african violets, then the analogy would be perfect!

The way how HD takes the plants for sale - they pay only for the ones they sell. At least with the small sellers. The unsold plants either returned to the provider (why anybody would want the bug infested semi-dead plants) or chucked. SO there is no need for HD to take good care of the plants.

They treat the employees the same way as far as I heard.

how sad. rosie

Praise the Lord they do not sell puppies and kittens.

From what I understand, all the BBSs have that same sales system, Irina.

I am not so sure Paul. I have been in Meijer and Lowe's when they have been unpacking and they look beautiful and robust! But after that, well, as Irina said "Praise the Lord they do not sell puppies and kittens." Rosie

I think for them it is more economical to sell plants just out of the box - and chuck the rest in 10 days or so. They do not have good enough light to prevent deterioration even if their underpaid and overworked stuff will water them the way they should be watered.

I talked to Steve from 'Steve's Leaves' - and that's how he described their selling policy. That's why he stopped working with HD. And he grows some unbelievable tropical plants... His greenhouse is not far from Dallas and I was lucky to visit it.

I agree. Rosie

Sorry to hijack back this thread but...

Ahem...

I thought like Rosie that this might be a duck, but, I actually think it is more of a horse. A horse of a different color. Like Amy says, the leaves do seem wavier and as the flowers grow larger, they are getting a brighter pink color, and losing more of their green edge. Or may it's because the Antique NOID has been growing under an LED grow light on it after the first bloom appeared, and the real McCoy has a CFL floor lamp above it??? They have both been in front of a bright window too the whole time.

A duck? Or a horse???

Quack? Or neigh???

What's your take on it?

i have two avs that are the same plant..one has a vintage color to it..i basically call it thing 1 and thing 2

That's interesting about it different colors of the same plant, Heather. I thought it strange that the color of my 'official' Antique Rose also looks nothing like the one pictured in the AVSA database, where it's a brighter pink, below:

It's a bit of a disappointment that my official RAR doesn't look like it should.

Photoshop it! ;-)).

Probably it can be brighter, but it depends on the time of the year, it shows more contrast when the weather is cooler. The wavy leaf hybrids are tricky. You start the leaf - and some of the babies will have curlier leaves and some - more flat. Curly leaves one will give you smaller flowers with good green fringe, and more substance. Flat leaf - will have bigger and thinner blossoms with less green on the edge.

I think if it would be Rob personally - he would only keep the ones that conform. We - end users - not always know what to look for - and a genetic drift happens.

I saw it on the shows - and never as bright. There is another hybrid - Rob's Sarsaparilla - with some similarities - probably a close relation.

Photoshop, makes sense, I can do that.

...the blooms are just for a fleeting moment in time. My digital violets, a lifetime...

What a show off I could be with my digital brag book! I carry that around everywhere on my phone, of course.

Interesting stuff about the weather and curly leaf differences. Irina, you don't think the difference in colors between these two plants could be a cultural thing related to when I changed the light on one? The plants had started out with identical looking flowers.

Maybe as an experiment I should switch each plant around to other's light source.

Probably each variety has the optimal conditions ... Maybe matching the climate it was hybridized. Takes 3 generations to adjust to your home perfectly...

On the other side - both Sarsaparilla and Antique Rose have a tendency to turn brownish when the flowers age. I saw Rob's Sarsaparilla at the Show on the last day - getting to be ugly brown... while the first day it was definitely pink.

Not everybody ages gracefully...

Agree lol.. I have a strange av that the flowers look half dead while blooming.. Maybe it'll be my Halloween av

Hmmm... are you absolutely sure you want to keep THIS violet??? Kinda gloomy...

Awwww, every violet deserves a chance. Rosie

Ok, looking at this thread, can we just agree there is no such thing as a named violet? They're really all NOID, due to variancy, growing conditions, chimeras, sports, etc. (I hope I'm partly joking...but there is truth in the jest too)

When a hybridizer spent 3 years hatching his prized plant... I kinda prefer to respect fruits of his labor....If I say - this is a white sport of "Night Vase" - it is a little bit different than - it is a NOID, I lost the tag, I picked it on a clearance rack in the nursery etc.

Though mix-ups happen in any collection. The bigger is the collection - the more mislabeled plants it has.

I try so hard to keep tags straight, but once in a great while I end up with a NOID. My fault, but then there are times when someone ELSE creates a NOID, and I take it anyway because I love it.

I agree the hybridizer should name his plant. He created it after possibly years of labor and expense. It deserves to be called something other than "that purple fantasy white edge streaked thing over there" for example.

dbarron, that is a profound thought. Whether it is a plant or person,,,,,we ARE,,, at the end of the day,,,,all NOIDS. You are right, there is truth in jest sometimes. I know my tag was lost generations ago! Rosie

Rosie - we are too young to belong to the lost and found...

hahahahahahahaha do ya really think so Irina? Rosie

When I lose an AV on a shelf - and next day I look again - and it is sitting in front of my nose. - it is OK. If I cannot find my glasses - and they are already on my nose - it is OK. It is normal.

When I'll wonder from my house in my nightie and they won't find me until snow melts next spring... that is not happening yet. So we can consider ourselves young and sprite. So Far.

Until proven differently...oh dear.

Irina, you'll have to start sleeping in a snowmobile suit once you get close.

It is still s far ahead... I will forget. Remind me in 30 years.

I am with you, Irina! Rosie

"...saw Rob's Sarsaparilla at the Show on the last day - getting to be ugly brown..."

Well, Irina, since sarsaparilla IS brown, at least the name is color appropriate. ;-D

"I am not so sure Paul. I have been in Meijer and Lowe's when they have been unpacking and they look beautiful and robust! But after that, well, as Irina said "Praise the Lord they do not sell puppies and kittens." Rosie"

That's just, Rosie. The nursery will make the effort to send beautiful, strong plants to entice people to buy. But because a BBS has so little at stake selling them on consignment, there is little reason for them to invest much time and resources to maintaining the plants. Far more cost effective to simply send the declining plants back or pitch them and get reimbursed from the nursery. It is also why one rarely finds any truly unique/exotic plants or cultivars at a BBS.

I know Paul. But I would prefer to drink out of a glass that is 1/2 full than 1/2 empty.

Remember when I said I personally got to know the 2 managers at Lowe's? They tell me the same thing you just said.

In fact many times I have "pruned" the violets and succulent in Lowe's to their delight. But it is really my delight because they let me keep what I trim! I just wanted the plants to look a little more appealing. Course that doesn't get me any violet leaves, just a few succulent pieces that drop off.

They also encouraged me to apply for a job there. I did. I got a polite rejection letter. Why? Because I could not answer to their satisfaction their insane questions about "what would you do if". Or "how would you handle this?" But it was multiple choice and really none of the answers applied. And you couldn't explain. sigh. I guess I am too old school for these modern online apps.

And at the end of the day,,,,,,"Praise the Lord they do not sell puppies and kittens. Rosie the optimistic

PS. I still love Rob's Sarsparilla! happy face!