December already? That was quick!
Saintpaulia 'Allegro Appalachian Trail'
December Photos and Chit Chat
Saintpaulia 'Honeysuckle Rose'
Saintpaulia 'Heinz's Seduction'. I hope that this one came true. Too soon to tell since it's only the first flower...
Beautiful Olaf!
Here are some of my little darlings from Heidi.Thanks Heidi ^_^.
Honey Blue Ace
Lyon's Fireworks
Moonlight Kisses
Pink Dove
Trinket Terrific
Very nice pictures, Olaf and Lynn. Glad to see the african violets have not been forgotten! LOL.
Earle
Sorry about forgetting the name. That was 'Opera's Paolo'.
Earle
Thanks everyone! And great pictures, Lynn and Earle!
My Violets only want to bloom from about October to June... LOL
What a beauty Earle and you are such a good photographer!
Olaf,why do you think they don't bloom in winter months ?
Lynn
Lynn: What I was trying to say is that they only want to bloom in the cold, dark season for me. It gets too hot around here in Summer and my Violets take a break... :)
Goodness, it's December already!. Olaf and Lynn, thanks for such a great start of photos!!! Earl, your's is a beauty too!
Heidi sent you some beauties, Sis!! Beautiful pics from everyone and such a great way to start Dec. :)
Connie
Sorry Olaf...I read what you said backwards LOL.
As you can probably see in my photos,I need to get in gear and clean and groom.I took a look around and just about cried or threw my poor plants out the window.OOOOh NO!! I have dirty plants ,suckers everywhere,mildew trying to sneak in,etc.Even some plants in bowls were wilted.Bad,bad plant mom right now!
Lynn
No problem, Lynn! Happens to me all the time... LOL
BTW: If that's how dirty and neglected plants look like, then please let me be a dirty and neglected plant at your house!!!
Lynn, I don't see anything but beautiful plants. Their form is so pretty and with so many rows of leaves. I especially like Trinke Terrific, for the variegation. Cold weather is pinking up my AV leaves here. Isn't it great?!
Jamie
Wow, I love your Honeysuckle Rose, Olaf! Also really love Honey Blue Ace, and always love to look at pics of Opera's Paolo! Does it grow well for you Earle? Looks like yours has HUGE blooms, like I hear they do. I don't have any violets with big blooms, but they intrique me.
Hi Seaecho,
To my way of thinking, Opera's Paolo is a pretty average size flower for a standard plant. The really huge blooms are from King's Ransom and Champagne Taste. The flowers on these two are enormous. Champagne Taste flowers very freely, but King's Ransom is pretty stingy with its blooms.
Earle
Hi Guys!! I haven't been around for awhile because of some health issues. But I'm back!! Look at all of these beauties!! Makes ones mouth drool!
Melanie
Hey Melanie!!
Great to see you back with us again. Hope you are feeling better now :)
Connie
Welcome back, Melanie. You were missed. Glad you are feeling better.
Thanks so very much Connie and Eileen! It's so good to "see" you both!! Is the sisterhood still active? LOL!!
Melanie
Welcome back Melanie ^_^. The sisterhood is sorta quiet right now,but still going,right Sister Connie?
I'm sure glad I'm not the only one who winds up neglecting their plants once in awhile Olaf! Jamie,thank you for the kind words.Yes,they do seem to enjoy this cooler weather....did I say cool LOL.....it's snowing like crazy outside!
Lynn
Lynn, what is the 'sisterhood'? I've seen you or, I think Melanie, mention it on other violet forums. Is it a special group?
Eileen,
The one I mean is Susan,Connie,Jannich and I and a few adopted LOL.We are just a group of friends that care deeply for each other,as you would your sister and are there to help and support each other as much as we can.
Lynn
Thanks Lynn. I see sisterood mentioned on the few other forums that I'm on. I'm mainly a lurker, learning and drooling over the beautiful violets. LOL
Yep, Sis...it's still going on :) I have been very blessed with some very special sisters and we are sisters on any forum that we are members of. We are still learning and drooling over the beautiful violets too along with other gessies lol!!
And Sis...the plants in your pics a beautiful as always. Bad mom....NOT!!!! LMBO!!
Connie
I am so glad to hear that you girls have this sisterhood going on! What a wonderful thing!
It just proves that nothing has changed in the world of plant people and that taking care of each other has not lost any of it importance and popularity!
Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!
Olaf
Sprouting Sinningia pusilla tubers. On the left side are Sinningia muscicola seedlings that I pulled from the pot my original plant is in. On the right are some Episcia cupreata seedlings.
Trying for a week now to self Primulina involucra. I believe this species dies back after flowering and I need seed. The pollen does look yellow and the female part looks swollen on some flowers, but so far the ovaries are not bulging. Any advice?
Jamie: This one is not a Primulina but a Microchirita according to the new classification.
The proper name would be Microchirita involucrata at this point.
Together with species like M. micromusa, M. hamosa and some others, Microchirita represents mostly the annual, tropical herbs from South East Asia that were formerly classified as Chirita.
Everybody told me how M. micromusa would self fertilize but it didn't for me before I realized it. I would strongly recommend selfing or cross fertilizing any and all the flowers you get if you want to keep this one going.
Thank you Olaf.
I'll correct that label right now. I am really trying to pollinate things and am keeping a journal, but the success rate is dismal. I've read the articles and looked at pictures, so I know to wait until the female part is out and swollen and until the pollen is yellow, but GOSH!
Maybe I need my husband to help me with this- hee, hee...
Seriously, here are some of the Sinningia pusilla seeds grown that you sent to me way back when. Do I have to try to pollinate that tiny flower too, or are these little guys perennials?
Well, I always try to do the same pollination as many times as I can as soon as the stigma seems halfways receptive. You can keep pollinating even after the corolla has fallen off in many cases.
Sinningia pusilla is a perennial. They make surprisingly large tubers for such a small plant. My largest one, the parent of your seeds, was about 3/4" across when I potted it up recently. The flowers self pollinate most of the time but I found that gently squeezing the tube a little bit every day for a few days can help matters long.
It is a rather weedy species and if you're not careful, it will spread into any pot nearby...
In my experience, S. muscicola is even weedier...
I'll do that (squeeze 'em), much easier. Here is Paliavana prasinata blooming. The big momma to this one bloomed last summer and all my pollination efforts were fruitless. I'll keep trying though. It makes a sticky mess on any plant that is beneath it.
Wow! Love it!
Lots of nectar and pollen, huh? Sounds like a good example of a bat pollinated flower. Probably has a kind of "sour" or "yeasty" scent to it as well...
It does stink. It reminds me of a fungal culture dish. I just collected lots of pollen onto a coffee filter and put it into the fridge. I think that when I did this last summer, I did not apply to the female part at the proper time. What were some of the other plants that people have crossed with Paliavana?
Well, both Paliavana and Vanhouttea are closely related with Sinningia and as far as I know, xVanvana (Vanhouttea x Paliavana) and xSinvana (Sinningia x Paliavana) are the only intergenerics.
Kohleria 'Peridots Potlach'
