It's beautiful! I love big ruffly flowers! The Russian AVs are some of the prettiest IMO.

Thanks for sharing!

damask_rose : )

What a beauty! Rosie

I've seen a lot of photos of that one on-line and it looks beautiful. Similar coloring as LE-Isadora, also a Russian.

@judy musicant - That AV is gorgeous!!! The combination of the pink with the purple fantasy stripes is sensational! And the ruffly flowers...! Perfection!

Glad you like it. The Violet Barn always has it. It's a good grower for me. :))

I would love to grow LE-Isadora and Frosty Cherry, but sadly I'm out of room : (. I am really enjoying the beautiful photos though! : )

Here is a picture of my set-up from today. The violets are on the smaller side since I re-potted them a few weeks ago, but they are sending up new buds! O. Indiana, O. Michelle, O. myDelight, and O. Little Inca are on the first table, and O. Montana II and Rob's Humpty Doo Sport are on the second table, although I'm thinking of giving away O. Montana II because whenever it blooms it gets powdery mildew and the flowers turn brown and translucent.

Wow, what a healthy looking bunch, damask_rose!

Shoot, if these are "on the smaller side," I'd better begin planning ahead for the future of my immature collection.

Mine too are now, every single one of them (except the leaves and suckers), sending blooms. Nine plants seem to be feeling exuberant. (Blush, too many for a casual person, too few for a serious person.) Is this just the time of year, or could it be that only one month ago I added artificial light? One month seems like too little a time to make such a significant difference. I only added it because I knew we in MN were getting way too close to equinox, after which day length would for sure be too short.

What are those lights you've got poised above the plants? You like?

P.S. I'd take your Montana II. I can't imagine that I would ever have a problem with powdery mildew indoors, in my environment. I cherish white blooms, I think they're under-appreciated in general. Message me at two-one-eight-3714000 if inclined?

Thank you so much Joan! Haha, thankfully they they don't grow much bigger than the size they are now. It took me a whole month to figure out how to fit all plants into my room so they they can all get the right amount of light lol. If they grow any bigger I'd have to move out! ; ) The lights are LED grow lights that I got as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I'm not sure what brand they are, but there are many similar ones on Amazon. Ever since I got them I've noticed that my violets bloom more and more often, and their form is better. The only problem is they are very bright, so bright they turn half of my room hot pink! At first it was strange, but I got used to it after awhile. I think grow lights do make a difference in plant bloom production and growth pretty quickly, even if it has only been a month. Another thing that I've noticed is that AVs tend to bloom the most in March and October, so it is probably a combination of both the time of year and the addition of the grow light.

(Blush, too many for a casual person, too few for a serious person.)

Hahaha, that is so funny! : ) I feel the same way!

Haha, the "hot" violet is O. Indiana. It is a great violet; it is always in bloom and the leaves grow very nicely. It's kind of a funny story how I got it. We went to Raley's one day and as usual I ran to flower section to see if they had any interesting plants. They had just gotten in a fresh shipment of AVs that day, and lo and behold there was a broken AV leaf on the shelf. Being the AV fanatic that I am, I decided I would try to root it and see what kind of violet I would get. After several months of waiting it produced just one plant, and I potted it up, and a few months later it bloomed! I checked the myviolet website to ID it, and it ended up being O. Indiana. It is the first violet that I grew from a leaf and It is one of my favorite violets!

I would love to give you my O. Montana, but unfortunately I cannot go to my post office right now because of the high amount of COVID cases in my city. As soon as this pandemic is over, I will try my best to figure out how to send it to you. I hope this pandemic is over soon!

Have a lovely evening and a wonderful weekend!

damask_rose : )

Judy, agreed, similar colors. As I understand it Frosty Cherry can get more cherry in it under different temperature conditions - not sure whether that's warmer or cooler though. I kind of like the way the coloring of Frosty Cherry is sort of water-color blended. (One of my daughters dabbles in watercolors, bless her.) I think this is called "puff" in the jargon? As opposed to "fantasy." I forget where I saw this terminology, but somewhere. Please correct if I'm wrong! Thanks!

Joan

Some pictures from this spring-

O. Indiana

O. Michelle

NOID - I got rid of this one because I ran out of room, but I really regret it. It was such a pretty color.

O. Montana II

O. myDelight

Aww, damask! We should be buddies, we *would* be buddies, if we lived physically close at all!

True story: I went to Maui a few years ago, to spend some time with my sister and niece, and after early exposure/beachcombing I cared very little for the glorious beaches. It's not that I didn't appreciate the rhythm of the waves on the sand, the presence of the green turtles, the shells and coral that told the story of sea life over time: that was mesmeric. It's just that I was more drawn to the botanical gardens, and to whatever was growing in whatever habitat I could visit.

I went early-morning-walking in the neighborhoods, where I met and spent time with the gardeners who groom everything for the tourists (there was one guy, native Hawaiian, well...); then went further into the residential areas, where I learned from the locals about their palms and their hibiscuses (and pests!!) and plumerias etc. One neighborhood "captain" observed me snapping photos of the various kinds of palms in his area, and in what I assume was a move to protect his folks, swung by and asked me what I was up to. Not in so many words, but I got the message. So I told him honestly. Upon which he took me on a tour, explained the various palms and plumerias, and then took me to his house for a tour of his wife's hibiscuses, and gave me his card. I bless that man.

I love plants. All kinds, everywhere. Anywhere.

Damask, all so fab!

You're so right, that NOID is pretty unforgettable. How does one "get rid of" such a plant?! That would about kill me -

You are so sweet Joan! We definitely would be buddies if we lived near each other! But we can be online buddies! What a beautiful story about your trip to Hawaii! I especially love the part about the neighborhood "captain." What a kind man. I think a trip to Hawaii spent making new friends and exploring botanical gardens and Hawaiian plants is more meaningful (and funner) than spending the whole trip at the beach. If one day I ever travel somewhere, I would love to do the same thing. I agree with you 100%! I too love all kinds of plants, everywhere and anywhere! Except for weeds of course. But even weeds can be pretty sometimes : ).

I'm so ashamed of myself for getting rid of that NOID. I don't even know what I was thinking. It was the nearing the end of the school year and I was busy with homework, and I kept on forgetting to water it on top of it needing to be re-potted; also I had too many violets crammed into a small space. It went downhill from there, I probably could've saved it, but it was only a buck because I had gotten on clearance, and I decided that I would rather have a few well-cared for violets than a lot of unhealthy ones. I really wish I had kept it. Tisk, tisk, tisk, I'm always buying plants that I don't have the space for. What am I going to do with myself? The one good thing is that my violets have a little more room grow now.

Have a lovely evening,

damask_rose : )

Oh hey, Damask - over on the Powdery Mildew Woes thread, Judy said she too was having problems with powdery mildew on flowers, and said Immunox worked without damaging the flowers. Maybe you want to try that on your O. Montana II. Just a thought!

Good news, Judy! Immunox, another arrow in our quiver.

Today I finally put a systemic in almost all the pots I have (exception being one where the leaves make it impossible to get at the soil), with the goal of eliminating the doggone fungus gnats. They're no huge harm, but annoying enough that I just want them gone; plus my plants will be protected from other much worse pests` by the presence of the insecticide. Going to put some yellow sticky traps in the area too, while the systemic is settling in.

Joan

Thank you Joan and Judy! Unfortunately I can only use neem oil because it is cat-safe, but I appreciate the suggestion.

Have a lovely afternoon,

damask_rose : )

Joan, Frosty Cherry is a great addition! Some very experienced AV people praise this highly. I have heard it can develop more of the red. I have not grown it myself. Joanne

Joanne,

I wrote an even longer response to this, I'm sure it was totally wordy. Even more so than what follows. I love words and storytelling. BUT lucky for you, it disappeared into the ether.

As Frosty Cherry blooms have opened most of them have had an increasing amount of red in them. But to tell the truth, I'd have been perfectly happy to have something that was more white with flushes of another color, like the initial photo.

That's where this community comes in: what might you suggest that maybe has a tinge of color, but tends toward white? It's not that I don't cruise violetbarn and selectivegardener fairly regularly, window-shopping as it were. But those aren't the only sources, and they don't tell one anything about performance. And leaves are important to me, as well as flowers.

The rest of this is only relevant to people who have nothing better to do at the moment.

One of the excellent things about Frosty Cherry is its leaves, as far as I can judge in a mere four months' acquaintance. They're much more regular and tailored-looking than the other Russian that I have, Masha Rasterasha, whose leaves are large and exceedingly flamboyant. Don't get me wrong, I love Masha's leaves! Loved them from the first, when he arrived with only four leaves, but all so happy. (Masha is not a she. For once, this is definitely a "he" violet. He might be gay, but he's a HE. Massively so.)

I've been looking around some, at Russians. Foliage definitely trends toward the exuberant devil-may-care side, when I can find illustrations.

When I knew nothing about Russians vs anything else, I just went shopping and picked some stuff the blossoms of which appealed to me. Pictures of flowers were generally all that was available, not pictures of whole plants. I knew it was a risky way to shop but there seems at present to be no other way. I strongly believe marketers need to offer pictures of whole plants, not just flowers.

Anyway, I got what I got, and I'm working with it. I reckon if some of them fade into the sunset over time, well. They won't be the first, nor the last, and I'll have learned something.

Hi, Joan, you found out the reason Frosty Cherry is popular among experts and successful. One "expert" who grows only F.C. and no other Russians says it is because its foliage is well behaved. (The color would not matter to me.)

Russians tend to have messy foliage.

In another post, you asked about "puff fantasy." That refers to the shape of the fantasy markings.

As for bi-colors, I am not a good source for info but others will hopefully chime in. I don't have success with them. Mine revert to a single color. I also don't like the "busy" or messy look. Instead, I go for edge variegation for contrast. The look is tidier and more predictable.

You are witty about Mister Masha!!

Selective Gardener's are the "workhorses" of the AV world. They are strong growers. The company also seems to have a large selection of bi-colors. (I remember when Milennium was all the rage. I grew it but it was just so-so. I find the Optimara bi-colors difficult to tell apart.)

You might also try the Fancy Bloomers website. The company is in N.J. They have vintage violets and you might find they have bicolors. But no prmises. Vintage violets are older varities that remain popular. Usually they are strong growers.

Joanne