I hate to brag, but my African violets look glorious right now. They are blooming abundantly, the leaves look healthy and I am proud to say that they have even been watered recently. As the motivational speakers say, “It’s all good.”
Except for the watering, I had nothing to do with it. All of the houseplants spent the summer and early fall outside, which is the equivalent of a group spa visit. The violets luxuriated in partial shade, with their pots positioned in large trays. When I watered them, the water collected in the trays, rather than in the pots. This kind of indirect irrigation gives the violets the water they need without risk of spotting their fuzzy leaves. The only caveat is not to let the pots stand in water for days or even hours on end. Violets with wet feet are on the road to problems.
Many people grow African violets, thanks largely to the phenomenally successful breeding and marketing efforts of Hermann Holtkamp Greenhouses in Nashville, Tennessee, which retails enormous numbers of African violets under the Optimara name. This effort has been going on in the U.S. since 1977, but the African violet story goes back much farther. The primary parent of modern floriferous African violets is Saintpaulia ionantha, a native of mountainous regions of Tanzania and Kenya. If you saw the species form, you would probably recognize the familiar rosette of fuzzy leaves that give rise to peduncles or flower stalks bearing purple flowers with five petal-like lobes apiece. The three lower lobes are somewhat larger than the two upper ones.
Sadly, habitat destruction has made African violets endangered in the cloud forests of their native range. This was not the case in 1892, when amateur botanist and African provincial governor, Baron St. Paul-Illair, collected wild ionantha plants and sent them back to his father in Germany. The father, also a botany enthusiast, passed them on to Herman Wendland, director of the Royal Botanic Garden in Berlin. Wendland was credited as the first to describe the new species, whose genus name, Saintpaulia, was bestowed in honor of Baron St. Paul.
Serious breeding efforts began in the United States in the 1920’s and eventually thousands of African violet varieties were developed. The African Violet Society of America (http://www.avsa.org), now the world’s largest interest group devoted to a single indoor plant, was organized in 1946. In its role as international cultivar registration authority for Saintpaulia, the AVSA is the African violet world’s “keeper of the keys.” Amateur and professional violet breeders must register their new creations with AVSA before they can be recognized as unique varieties.
African violet addicts and casual buyers have a range of choices now, from simple, single-flowered varieties to flamboyant ruffled doubles. The color range has expanded exponentially, with blooms in all shades, from pure white to a plethora of purples, pinks, reds and blues. Though somewhat less common, yellow violets are also obtainable. If single-color blooms are too banal for your taste, bi-colored types abound. Leaves may be one-color or variegated and shapes also vary widely, from the textured loveliness of “quilted” leaves to the pointed-sided “holly” types.
As if all those choices are not enough, you can also select among various plant sizes. The violet aficionados classify plants by the width of the rosette of leaves as follows: miniature (6 to 8 inches or less in diameter); semi-miniature (6 to 8 inches); standard (8 to 16 inches); and large (over 16 inches).
Every year when I visit the Philadelphia Flower Show I am rendered temporarily insane when I come within viewing range of the African violet vendor. The sizes of both my indoor growing space and wallet become completely irrelevant as I careen from one end of the booth to the other gazing at the bountiful display of violets. I am not alone in this insanity. The friend who always accompanies me on these sorties is stricken in the same way. We have never gone home empty handed. Fortunately, the young rooted cuttings that we buy are relatively inexpensive, which has saved me from Saintpaulia-induced bankruptcy.
If you are a true enthusiast, raising, showing and even breeding African violets; catering to the plants’ needs can become all-consuming. Fortunately for the rest of us, violet care is relatively simple. Like us, the plants appreciate consistent warm temperatures–below 80 degrees Fahrenheit–and bright, indirect light. Indoors a south-facing window works nicely, though you may have to provide a curtain to filter the light in summer. Outdoors in temperate weather, the plants appreciate partial shade. They do not adore dry winter air, so set the pots on trays filled with water and pebbles. Keep the water level low enough so the violets do not sit in water. Wet feet encourage crown rot, a great scourge of African violets. If you have lots of houseplants, consider investing in a humidifier, which will also improve your life in the winter. Water when the soil surface feels dry and fertilize with a balanced, ready-to-use plant food. Some products are made specifically for African violets, but a general purpose houseplant food will work just as well. Follow package directions for dilution, if applicable, and feeding frequency.
You can buy African violets almost anywhere, generally for a song. For something more unusual, the AVSA also has a listing of vendors, located on their website at http://www.avsa.org/commercials.