Ohhhh,,,,beautiful! BUT,,,,you must keep Optimara Cora. She is a classic. And yes, that is the name of the violet in the top pix! The other two I have no idea. I would give away the middle one first. Then, and I would hate to, but I would give away the beautiful pink one. In no universe would I get rid of Opt. Cora!

OH but before you get rid of the pink one you should take the suckers off and keep them for YOU! I can't tell if the middle one has suckers. Rosie

Oh, I loved Cora before she had name, she was my keeper...and now with a name, I love her even more, lol. Thanks Rosie!

All three were very messy plants. Cora's lopsided and missing leaves on one side. The other two both have suckers. And the peat -- oh boy -- every leaf was covered in it.

Took off all blossoms and buds and sprayed. Will have to wait til they bloom again before giving them away. Maybe they'll be budding by New Year's if I'm lucky.

I agree with Rosie

There are just a handful of Optimara's that can be named with absolute certainty. Cora is one. There is no mistaking her beautiful flowers. Two more that come to mind would be Rocky Mountain and Smokey Mountain among very few others. Otherwise the rest of theirs are pretty generic looking, beautiful, but generic looking. You really have to think too hard about it and are really never sure. Sooooo, they must stay NOIDS. Unless you ordered them from Optimara and GET A TAG!!!!! But to get them from the big box stores,,,,well,,,,NOIDs they must be. Except for the very few unique ones! IMHO Rosie

Then with absolute certainty I think I can perhaps call her Cora I guess. :-]

Cora would have been my keeper guess as well -- but then I I typically gravitate to rich/vibrant colors (pastels just rarely "do it" for me -- must have some gypsy in my background, heh).

Btw, Dbarron, in case you come back to this -- my sister's phal appears to be doing quite well. Even has a new spike initiating. (For those who may be idly curious, on a different post somewhere it came up as part of a discussion concerning difficult plants. My sis, horticulturally challenged, actually succeeded in killing a pothos ,,,)

Paul, I get it! I can grow almost anything, but give me a cutting of a green, basic philodendren and it is doomed to oblivion. I can't root it, I can't grow it and if I buy one from the store it will die. Slowly and painfully. BUT I can grow violets, orchids and start leaves of other things, but when it comes to the philodendren,,,,,,well,,,,,,not so much. In fact not at all. So I guess we all have our wheelbarrow to push! Rosie

Rosie - Philodendron takes too much space where you can grow AVs, Gessies, Begonias, Orchids...

Absolutely Irina! No one sees me begging for advice on how to grow one either! lol Rosie

I grew a gynormous philodendron in a previous house - it had plenty of light - I was so proud - and then we visited friends near Orlando. The whole house development had these 10x10x10 feet monster philodendrons ... all over the place.. at that point... I decided - it is the place for them. Not a house.

Well,,,I guess I don't have to worry about that, do I !!!! Violets and other things it shall remain! Rosie

Err a drive-by hate speech? Wish we could expunge from thread.

You have been reported. There is nothing in this entire forum that has anything to do with YOUR subject matter. Please leave. Rosie

I reported it. Hopefully the posting is removed and this person is banned ASAP.

Irina,,,thanks for your support,,,,hopefully everyone who reads this drivil will report it and something will be done about it.

This small mind also showed in another post. I actually reported both threads.

I choose not to engage with this person or any like him/her. Rosie

Looks like it's gone.

I missed a troll?

Guess we did. Good job patrolling, Rosie and Irina!

Some people are disturbed... nothing we can do about it. They need psychiatric help. Some people are professional protesters... probably also need this kind of help.

At least he was not peddling Viagra... these people should be painted blue for everybody to see.

Yes,,,you both missed the drama. Houzz took care of it right away! THANK YOU HOUZZ!!!!! Rosie

I missed it. Just as well. Who'd wanna mess w flower people?

Well, Joanne I can't speak for Irina,,,,but I have been good! (and if you believe that I have some swamp land.....haha!)

We did banish a troll just recently. A nasty, vulgar, racial troll. But I must say,,,,HOUZZ was on it immediately! Irina and I reported it and BAM!!! The HOUZZ Genie waved its wand and the ugly troll disappeared!!!!

No troll is gonna run me off! HA! Rosie

Well, it was time to take a breather break. I got involved in other activities locally such as leaf swaps and buying locally that yielded many new starter plants. But then my mature plants were not doing. Many were trashed. My life was extremely busy. I whittled down my collection, found new homes for many plants. It was not a "conscious decision," I just needed to focus on other things. Anyway, that has always been my pattern. Intense interest, periodically. The plants were in the wrong location in my home, the kitchen needed to be reclaimed. The plant room needed to share space with books. It seems to have worked, I was able to display a few flowering violets over the recent holidays, rather than my entire house looking like a plant nursery. As a result, a couple of people have expressed interest in growing violets.

Irina has often warned us and spoken about that kind of pattern some people have when they seek balance regarding the amount of energy they want to devote to a hobby.

For me, it is time pressue. Anyway, I just wanted to stoo by, say hi, and am happy to see many wonderful posts. Joanne

You are our poster girl, Joanne! I am still struggling...

What's wrong with looking like a plant nursery? I like it!!!

Irina,,,give up the struggle and enjoy yourself! Rosie

Rosie - come and help me repot them. I will load you a truckload of gifts for you and your club.

I.

If I was close enough I would! I love potting up violets! AND I drive a truck! You did say a truckload??? lol My club would think they died and went to violet heaven! Rosie

Excuses-excuses....

;-))

Irina, as soon as you move close to each of us, you'd have visitors.

Hmmm,,, that's a thought. We need to think about some AV retiree community in a warm climate...

I win. I am closest!

But Irina,,,,Colorado is sooooo far away for a person who hates to really travel! But thanks anyway,,,it would have been fun!!!! Rosie