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Not all Janet’s adventures with her plants have been happy ones. “I made my biggest mistake some 20 years ago when I took for granted that an experienced grower was immune to problems from pests and assumed that I did not need to quarantine the violets she sold me. She was, after all, an officer in an African Violet society. I quickly learned the hard way that her plants had soil mealies and I spent the next 5 years trying to rid my entire collection of them. Now I quarantine everything religiously no matter how well I know the source of incoming plants and leaves."  Another frustrating adventure with her plants involved solving a mystery. “I'll never forget the summer a number of years ago when my plants started going down hill and the crowns on every single one of them started to die one by one. I took several of them to my local county extension agent and was told they harbored no diseases or pests, and that the extension folks didn't have a clue as to what the problem might be. I had no computer at the time but a friend had Internet access and asked an African Violet discussion group if anyone could help me. She got several answers including one suggesting that I borrow a good microscope and check for broad mites even though my plants had been declared "clean".  I followed his advice and after several hours of searching, found mites in the centers of several of my ailing plants. I treated the collection with a registered miticide and saved all my plants after two years of battling a problem I could not have diagnosed without help from a stranger over the Internet. I was on the verge of tossing out all of my plants, giving up on this hobby, and taking up knitting! That fall when all of my plants were again blooming, I bought a microscope and a computer and joined all the African Violet Internet groups I could find.” Thanks to Janet's pictures we can all see what broad mite damage looks like. Janet believes it’s important to cull your collection, though it it certainly isn't easy! “The biggest change that is going to have to take place in my house is a thorough culling of all the varieties that do not bloom well for me. I've kept far too many plants that only bloom once a year and I need to "trade up" to varieties that perform better in my growing conditions. But that's easier said than done. As long as I move the non-performers out when they are not blooming, I can bring myself to get rid of them. But heaven help me if they bloom when I'm in a mood to clear my shelves. If I see their blossoms (the reason I got them in the first place), I have a tendency to be much too forgiving and they go back on the shelves! I hate throwing out living plants. When they are not blooming nobody wants them, so giving them away is very difficult. But when they are, I have way too much trouble getting rid of them even though I know they won't bloom again for a very long time..... if ever. I'd like to have the ability to be more selective when it comes to adding to and maintaining my collection. I'd like to be able to incorporate the words "ugly violet" into my vocabulary, but as yet those are mutually exclusive words, a true oxymoron in my current state of mind. I can't own them all...I can't own them all...I can't own them all....! "  Rio Hondo (J. Eyerdom) As a hybridizer, Janet knows what she likes in an African Violet. “I have a preference for single to semidouble blooms simply because so many of the heavier double blossoms seem to spend most of their lives face down on the foliage. I like blossoms that stand up well above the foliage on sturdy stems. I'm a real sucker for the variegated ones too as long as they stay variegated in the heat of summer and bloom well in my house. I have a few that have to be moved to the basement when it gets hot, but I prefer those that don't need that kind of pampering. I have a large collection of plants that were hybridized by Jim and Hugh Eyerdom of Granger Gardens and they do very well for me. I am trying out plants from other hybridizers and have not yet come to any concrete decisions though I favor the Ness varieties.” More Eyerdom Hybrids Painted Lady Seafoam The Adventure continues -- Page Three |
