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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Garden -> African Violets
 African Violets:
When Small is Beautiful
By Niki Hayden
A shrinking violet may describe a timid and shy individual, but
when it comes to African violets, it’s just one of many inaccuracies. Despite
their small size, lavish blooms come in brilliant colors with velvety petals.
Leaves may be pink and green striped, wavy or fringed. A few can be downright
loud and gaudy. Most importantly, African violets are not violets at all. They’re
members of the flashy gesneriad family, which includes gloxinias.
They do come from Africa, discovered near Lake Tanganyika by a German
explorer in 1896, Baron Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire. But current day African
violets no longer bear much resemblance to those species plants. Although associated
with Victorian décor, they weren’t truly popularized
unto the 1920s, when a California greenhouse began to sell them widely.
 "Some writers have suggested that the popularity in growing African
violets coincided with fluorescent lighting," says Doug Crispin, enthusiast
and owner of The Violet Showcase in Denver. Violets require about 12 hours of
consistent low-level light—perfect candidates for fluorescent bulbs. Most
indoor gardeners set up two grow lights in an out-of-the-way place like a
basement. The triumph is bringing their violets upstairs when they are studded with flowers.
Barbara and Doug bought their shop in 1978 when they supplied violets to the
store. As teachers returning home after a stint in the Peace Corps, both
discovered few openings in their profession. "We turned a hobby into a
business," Doug says, and they have provided African violets and plenty of
advice for beginners ever since.
 African violets may look a little like the common garden violet (the Viola
genus), but there’s no family relationship. The winter hardy violet can
withstand dry summers, cold winters and little fertilizer. African violets (Saintpaulia
ionantha) need temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees, regular watering,
fertilizer and controlled lighting.
When the German adventurer sent seeds home, the African violet quickly became
popular at the Royal Botanic Garden in Hamburg. "He was a member of minor
German royalty," Doug says, "his father began to hybridize the
original plants. Then sent them to a greenhouse in California. You’ll not find
any in the wild like this," he says, nodding toward the frilly blooms.
"But there are people out there who still grow the original species."
Throughout decades, African violet hobbyists have tinkered with the purple,
rose and white blooms. Now you can buy them fringed, ruffled, striated,
speckled, or bicolor. Petals often are ringed in white or chartreuse. Leaves are
slightly furry to the touch and may be variegated with pink, ruffled or flat,
ridged or scalloped. Each pod holds about 100 seeds containing a spectrum of
varieties, a sort of genetic hodgepodge. It’s rare to replicate the original
plant via seed.
 Fortunately, the African violet is accommodating.
Fleshy leaves can be sliced off with a clean razor blade, dipped in a growing
solution and planted in a sterile mix. In a week or so, a tiny plant emerges
from the base of the leaf. This is the only way to get a child of the parent
plant, although some varieties require root divisions to create a true new
plant.
Like all plant collectors today, there’s a new interest in heirlooms.
Perhaps from nostalgia, some African violet growers long to reprise what they
remember from their childhood. "They’re looking for a violet grown back
in 1956—what they remember their grandmother growing. And some people feel the
old ones are better. I’ve had some people e-mail from Vietnam looking for a
certain kind and there’s a lot of interest in the old Soviet Union, too,"
he says. In fact, it’s impossible to stereotype African violet enthusiasts.
"Former football players, middle school students. It’s all kinds,"
he says, "and some have been coming here for 25 or 30 years—before we
took over the store."
 Once a hobbyist joins an African violet society, the fever to propagate takes
hold. Before long, they’re traveling to shows, exhibiting their best. Doug
tells stories of true aficionados buying an extra airplane seat for their
violet, which is carefully ensconced in a small plant suitcase.
Growing African violets isn’t difficult, but they require specific
conditions, especially when you want them to bloom. Doug troubleshoots for his
customers and says the biggest mistake beginners make is to over water. Many of
the violets in the shop feel dry to the touch when you place a finger on top of
the soil. A wick method is widely used that draws water from a saucer to the
plant. It also provides humidity. But Doug says a wick won’t know when to stop
watering so it’s important to let the plant dry out in-between watering times.
Also, wick watering requires a soiless mixture of peat moss, perlite,
vermiculite and charcoal rather than the usual soil sold for African violets.
 Another major mistake is too little light. It’s nearly impossible to
duplicate the proper light from a window. It’s too bright, not bright enough,
or not enough light throughout the day for African violets. To give them 12
hours of perfect light usually requires a fluorescent set up, something similar
to growing seeds indoors. Doug sets the lights about 10 to 12 inches from the
rim of the pot to the top of the light bulb and keeps it on about 10 to 12 hours
each day. If a plant’s leaves are drooping, it’s a sign of a lack of light.
When light is sufficient, the leaves should be parallel to the pot’s rim.
Like all grand acquisitions, African violet gardeners begin with one violet
and then amass a collection Janice Sorenson is a judge of African violets. Her
mother grew them and encouraged her interest. But it wasn’t until she visited
a show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and saw miniature violets that her enthusiasm
told hold. She now owns about 75, "that’s when you realize you don’t
have enough window space and must resort to lights," she says.
 In addition to lights, fertilizer will enhance blooming, and there are many
types manufactured just for African violets that nearly any garden supply shop
sells. Doug likes to fertilize his plants often, but at less strength than the
package recommends. He cuts the dosage in half, but fertilizes with each
watering.
He also recommends that growers repot their plants at least once a year. If
the plant hasn’t grown much there’s no need to increase the pot size. Salts
accumulate from the process of fertilizing; simply refreshing the soil will give
the plant a boost.
In general, African violets hate draughts and wet foliage. Grouping violets
together gives a dramatic clout to any arrangement. There’s power in massing
pots when a deep purple is played against a stark white or party pink. A frilly
flower looks great next to its straight-edged sibling. Most African violets
complement ferns or tropical plants. Barbara likes to combine them in dish
gardens. "This is when you get a chance to use them artistically," she
says. And they will share accommodations with several others, like the Phalaeopsis
"moth" orchids, a Cochleanthes or one the many lady's slipper orchids because their growing
conditions are nearly identical.
 And, finally, African violet lovers are tempted by other gesneriads these
days. "There’s a group who have moved onto their relatives," Doug
says, picking up an exquisite plant with crinkled leaves and white-veined purple
blossoms. Like their cousins, the blooms are velvety but larger. The culture is
similar, and for African violet fans, any addition to the collection is always welcomed into the community.
Recommended Books and Websites:
Books: The Violet Showcase produces their own booklet called:
"Violets the Showcase Way." They also like "Growing to Show: How
to Grow Prize-Winning Violets" by Pauline Bartholomew, Priesta D.M.
Publishers, 1986. Barbara Crispin says that it’s for anyone growing violets,
not only those who want to show. Other good books are published by Sunset
Publishing and Ortho, but won’t have the detail of Pauline’s book.
Helpful websites: www.violetshowcase.com, the website for The Violet
Showcase. They will mail order violets.
www.avsa.org, the website for the American Violet Society of America, Inc.
They publish The African Violet Magazine six times a year. Colorado African
violet societies are affiliated with the AVSA and will provide contact names and
telephone numbers. Also, Janice Sorenson, a longtime judge of African violets
will help to link interested gardeners to their closest club. She can be reached
at 303-220-8799 or e-mail at hlsore@aol.com.
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