My father has departed. These two weeks were ridiculously difficult for a variety of reasons and the difficulties continued tot he very end. Just to give you an idea, both ours and Kid 1’s cars got flat tires, so Dad had to uber to the airport, his plane was delayed by 12 hours and he is now flying to Istanbul, which is only 2 hrs from his city, but is a longer and more dangerous flight due to the mountains.
On the professional front, the audio reader is not returning our emails, so we have to move on. What is it with this book?
We are still car-less, because we have an unusual tire size and the magical delivery truck hasn’t brought the right tires yet. I could entertain you with all the weird minor emergencies that happened, but it would be too much, so let’s just say that I feel like I’ve been beaten with a sack of potatoes.
I am taking a day off. I have to.
Here are some pretty flowers instead.
For some inexplicable reason, I am able to grow African violets now. I don’t know if it’s the right window or the special pots I bought, but I ordered these guys on Amazon, I think, about a year ago and all except one are flowering. They don’t just grow, they bloom in clusters and have filled the pots completely.
Having never been able to get African violets to thrive before, I have two questions: do they come in colors other than variations of purple and should I divide them, because they seem to be too big for their pots?
Follow up question, theoretically speaking, are there are other flowers similar to African violets that I could put on my windowsill?
At least he didn’t “fix” your garage door this time? your dad sounds like an fun person to introduce to new things, everytime he visits you i look forward to hearing about it. Hope he’s safe crossing those mountains.
Don’t know squat about African violets, but most plants like room to spread right?
African violets bloom when they are pot bound. They also come in white and variegated white and purple and white and pink.
+1
I know nothing about the flowers, but they are pretty! Also, ouch on the bed things happening. Hope tired come soon and your father gets home safe. And that you are able to fully recharge!
Yes they do. Also comes as doubles and are just lovely but can be fussy. Don’t change a thing. IMHO always thought by how they grow they like to be scrunched up and snuggly.
When I read “Dad is departed”, I thought he had died. Sorry. Glad to hear it’s a plane flight instead. 🙂
That’s what I thought as well. Glad to know I was wrong.
Same I was so heart broken for you.
That’s what I thought too!! Glad it wasn’t so.
Same! I had to do a double take like whattt?????!!! But I was very happy to realize that no, he just left to go home. Whew! And the flowers are beautiful! Enjoy your day off!
They do come in white and pink as well, but don’t split them they actually prefer a cramped pot, it’s when they bloom best.
And they also bloom better if you sometimes dry them ^^
(Actually most of plants will bloom more abudantly when slightly stressed – it just takes either instinct or lots of practice to apply right amount of stress to make them bloom but not to kill them. African violetes are survivors so no need to worry to much)
So true, and if you split African violets they will just fill the the new pot completely before they start to bloom again.
I have one that has light green leaves with white flowers. The flowers have little bits of purple at their centers.
In my past experiences African violets are notoriously finicky. Transplanting them usually disturbs them greatly and will result in them not blooming for awhile after. If you are gentle with the roots they eventually recover. Once I do the initial transplant I try very hard to prevent doing so again.
Mine always did well in my kitchen windowsill. I believe there are other colors but mine were always the deep purple shown in your photos! Hope that helps!
Sorry for the parade of stress. As for the violets, they come in pretty much all the colors of the rainbow. 🙂 Along with variegation, spots, etc. We’ve really sucked at growing things indoors here until we found just the right window. Grow lights just don’t seem to cut it for really happy plants.
Is DropBox set up the way you want it? If so, please may we have a snippet? According to that post, you intended to post a snippet that day. I am having withdrawal symptoms!
Linda,
As a fellow fan, I understand your eagerness for a snippet ?. As a fellow fan I also recognize when Ilona has just come through a stressful two weeks since that’s what the post was about ?. I’m not trying to bash you, but please let us agree to give them some time to recuperate. Thank you.
Hi there, the post on 6/28/19 has a really cool fight scene! ⚔️⚔️
Hope this helps!
They come in white too, and stripes…white with purple. Being violets, they don’t really come in not-violet colours . They like tea and they don’t like getting their leaves wet. That’s all I remember. My mom grew them
My father used to divide his luscious African violets, and they seemed all the happier for it. I am no expert, but may I direct you to this internet article on the subject? (see below) Enjoy your rare day off, and best of luck withe the gardening project!
http://www.realcountryliving.com/gardening/container-gardening/dividing-african-violets/
my mother, the orchid whisperer, has her orchids in the same window as the African violets and they all seem to be happy…
I was going to mention this. If you’re doing well with african violets, you’ll probably do well with orchids. We also have some Christmas cactus (I don’t know how big your space is).
Your violets are looking amazing! If they are outgrowing the pot you should either get a bigger one for it or yes divide it up into smaller sections in multiple pots. It’s funny cause they are such picky plants and the ONLY ones that I can manage to keep alive….I kill the so called easy ones .
African violets come in white, also, and white with purple edges. But mostly every shade of purple, from royal to magenta. Geraniums are a windowsill favorite, for good reasons, but they are kind of big for my windowsills. I’ve had some success with chenille plant, but the cats won’t leave it alone. My personal favorite is Kalanchoe, which comes in many colors and blooms for a long long time. I’ve never had any luck getting them to re-bloom though.
I do agree that windowsills with flowers on them are awesome.
Sometimes you just need a day off. Nothing wrong with that all 🙂 I hope that the tire situation works out. That’s one reason I’ve made sure to have an honest-to-god-Real Spare Tire in the trunk with a 2 ton floor jack underneath.
Don’t know diddly about African Violets. They’re very pretty. Even the sickly one.
The window is probably the reason they’re doing so well. I had some orchids in different pots and most of them just eventually died. Then I got a small chest for my front entry way and I put one of the small pots with a smaller (not dead yet) orchid there for decoration. There are windows there that get afternoon sun and that orchid has rebloomed multiple times while the others just kind of sit there. So I determined that you just have to find the right window and your plants will thrive.
African violets hate having wet leaves but like their roots to be well drained and wet, i.e. flower pot inside a bowl with a little water in the bottom, don’t let them dry out. They like to be squashed in, but you can split them. You can propagate them by carefully taking off a leaf and putting its stalk in water, then plant it when it has some roots. My late Mama grew them very successfully and some of hers lasted for years. They don’t mind a bit of benevolent neglect, but will die if they dry out.
Hope your dad’s flight goes well, your tire comes in, and you get some rest ?
As some other people have said, violets only flower when they’re a little squished in their pots. That said, if you would like a bigger plant and don’t mind being without flowers for a bit, you can re-pot in a bigger pot. I don’t believe you can split them but I could be wrong.
I used to have African Violets, too, before the cats destroyed them (along with my other plants) 😉
African violets like to be root bound. If you need to divide them do so into small pots they can quickly fill. If you want to put them in bigger pots go no more than 1 inch bigger. They make special African violet food you can use. AV like to be dead headed as necessary. Don’t get the leaves wet, water from the bottom.
I wish I had family who visited. I’d put up with a few quirks and emergencies. Of course it’s easy to say when I’m safe and know it isn’t going to happen.
I have a black thumb, plants that are supposedly fool proof and unkillable have died under my loving tender care. Worst is, I actually like plants. So now I have to like them enough to leave them alone so they won’t die. Tragic really.
We do get white and red African violets here in ZA, don’t know if they are available in the US though… My mom and sister grow the white one in hordes.
Enjoy the day off, and good luck with the car troubles. We can sympathise there; 4 cars breaking down in 2 days… On holiday.
Oy.
I can relate to the flat tire. I’ve had 2 in the last 6 months, and it’s the same location on the car (back right). I have a Subaru, though, and they have full-sized spares, which I freaking love. The second flat came just a couple of months after I bought new tires, but I have 2 years’ roadside on the tires, so this second one got replaced for just the cost of labor. Stupid freaking screws. They’re out to get me.
I don’t know anything about African violets either, other than they can be difficult to grow. Glad yours are doing well.
My current crop of African Violets are doing OK. Lost one to over watering . . . grrrrr. Right light seems to be a critical factor. Lots of indirect light but only small amounts of direct sunlight. Yours are beauties!! 😀
If you need, I can demonstrate how to kill African Violets. I am the African Violet assassin.
No violet is to healthy or beautiful to survive me!
+1 Except, I’m not cool enough to have a code name. They just hide their children when they see me coming. ?
(Btw, this made me think of women from the Ghostwalker series.)
My orchids are happy in the same spot as the violet. They both like plenty of indirect light
African violets need the right light, my townhouse faces north/south and I cannot grow African violets here. My old place they thrived in a window facing East. My mom and great aunt used to get new plants by suspending a leaf stem end down over a juice glass. Once it had rootlets they’d transplant it. Every time one got a new colour or leaf they’d “share” with the other by rooting a cutting. We had white, pinks shading into purple, and a white one with purple edges.
Yes, I thought there was a way to do this. I think I’ve seen my sister sit a leaf on the edge of a saucer, so that the stem would be in the water. Just keep refilling that saucer as needed until it has healthy roots.
It seems to me from watching my sisters that once you find a place where African Violets thrive, you almost can’t kill them off! I’ve never tried.
There are other colours such as pale pink but not so many colours as roses, I think you have the best colours already.
They like to be pot bound. The pot diameter should be 1/3rd of the diameter of the leaves from the furthest 2 leaves. Don’t pot on more than once or twice a year and if you go up in pot size don’t make it roomy. If you pick off the dying blooms it encourages the plants to keep flowering.
You can use plant feed to perk up your violets, a specialist one isn’t required.
Water with room temperature water that is a couple of days old, from the base not the top so you don’t get spots on the leaves. Let the soil dry out completely before watering again. Don’t let them standing the water too long as a complete soak can rot the roots.
A window spot is ideal for lighting but if the sun hits the window directly move the plants a meter from the window ledge.
P.S. My African Violets, rescues from the bargain area for last year’s plants in a local garden centre are called Droopy and Why The F””” Wont You Grow Flowers!
Enjoy the day off. My daughter has been growing succulents and houseplants the last couple of years. They seem pretty hardy plus she has been taking them back and forth to school. So that would be my recommendation for plants.
What a nasty couple of weeks. Enjoy the day off. African violets come in shades of pink and white, too. No idea about the rest. If it doesn’t meow, bark or otherwise have fur/whiskers (hubby excluded) I kill it. So much for English green thumbs ?
Sounds like it’s a good thing HEB delivers! Hope things start running more smoothly.
Try primroses too. I find they are relatively easy and while they prefer slightly wetter soil than African violets, I’ve never been able to kill them (i.e., they must be hardy!)
The flowers are gorgeous. Does it matter why?
Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Live.
My violet is in one of the pots with the unglazed bottom that suspends into the water holding pot. I hope that makes sense. I fertilize it whenever it quits blooming. I’ve had it several years and the stem is several inches tall with a vibrant top of leaves and blossoms. It sits on top of the secretary on the east side of the condo and sometimes wears a halo of cat hair. Violets I can grow as long as I remember to water them.
Enjoy your day off as you recuperate from your trials and tribulations. It is officially July and close to Maud. Happy Dance!
I love the african violets. They’re gorgeous, and you’re obviously doing something they love. My mother used to have a bunch of them. The only issue ever came was in the summer. I would water them, accidentally spill water on the leaves, and fry them in that spot (I had to be especially careful watering them because they don’t like water on the leaves). But they were beautiful. I know many people will collect the different varieties of the plants because of the different flowers and leaf styles. But I don’t think they really come in different colors exactly. I’ve never seen a yellow or orange one. They flower anywhere from blue to pink and can have different types of white spots or all white. They also have different petal types from simple to frilly to double flowers. Lots to collect.
But another flower I love for the window sill are primroses. They’re pretty hardy and they come in all kinds of colors. At one point, I attempted my own Mendel experiment with primroses, since they’re so easy to pollinate. However, I wasn’t very good about collecting the seeds. But they still make beautiful plants.
I think the windowsill really matters for African violets. I had some that thrived due to my successful and pretty accidental strategy of benign neglect. I would water from the bottom, forget about them and then water them again when they were dried out. And I swear they really loved the indirect light.
If you have a window without direct sun, you might consider Phalaenopsis (aka moth) orchids. They are available all over the place (the healthiest most resilient ones I’ve gotten have been at Costco and Trader Joe’s but ymmv). Like most flowering plants, they’ve been forced so it may take a year to get rebloom started, and then once they get going they are insane. They are the easiest things I have ever grown – easier than succulents, African violets, begonias, ivy – they just thrive on ignored. Mine get watered maybe 1x/month, the pots are just in marble pools (bonus: marble pool is pretty!) Basically they’re air plants, so – they don’t like minerals in their water, they don’t like to be in standing water and they like a lot of humidity.
You could also try goldfish plant (super cute, my former office mate had it planted in window boxes with her African violets) and cape primrose. Gloxinia is closely related to African violets but it dies all the way back and that makes me crazy. If you can tolerate it, they’re pretty and colorful and easy. And they die back.
Anyone who can grow African violets is a genius. Mine died in droves. My Christmas cactus is thriving, however.
Which pots did you buy on amazon? I can’t find any locally. Enjoy your day off!
My grandmother always had african violets in her kitchen. I’ve never been able to grow them, but last year at a church bazaar, there was an old lady selling little cardboard cups with “starters” in them for $1… so I bought three… and spent 45 minutes getting a lesson on raising african violets.
They like to be in crowded pots (they’ll grow, but won’t flower in pots with lots of room) and they like weak sunlight so put them in north facing windows. Don’t split them, just set the leaves, dipped in root enhancer, into dirt in a small pot and let them root. They like it a little cool but not cold and not hot. They like it a little humid and don’t over water them. (To boil it down)
Mine is growing very well, tho it hasn’t flowered yet because I put it in a pot instead of the little cup it came in…
And they come in shades of purple, pink and white. Good luck 🙂
African violets like indirect light not direct light so you must be blessed with the right window situation. They also bloom best when they are crowded in their posts. My Grandmother grew them for years and now I do. All of hers were always in small pots and flowered like crazy. Mine flower quite a bit. They are mostly in purple and pinks but lots of different shades. Don’t water from the top if you can help it – water from below if possible but don’t leave them sitting in water. Water once a week unless you are really dry in the house.
Wow. Sounds like it’s been a hell of a week. On the bright side, the flowers are beautiful. I know virtually nothing about flowers. I stick to succulents from the grocery store, so all I have to do is water them. That being said, I’m guessing dividing them is probably a good idea, so they have more room to grow.
Not to be opportunistic, but are you going through ACX for the audio narrator? I’m an actress, and, if you’re back to looking for narrators, I’d really love to audition.
Enjoy the day off! Sounds like you need it!
Gorgeous African Violets!! (Gardening genes on both sides of my family, but they skipped me – I’m the “thumb of death” as far as plants are concerned….) So I admire other peoples gardens; I’m the floral “audience”. ???️?
Your dad must have nerves of steel – my mom couldn’t get my dad on a plane, except for the retirement trip to London. (They drove cross-country a lot, and once took the Amtrak to Arizona.)
I am curious…what did your dad think of those awesome front doors?! Enjoy the me time.
+1 I dream about those doors.
I am so sorry to hear that your Dad’s visit coincided with many stressful things. Hopefully things will quickly get easier for you all.
I got very excited to see you had a plant question! In terms of repotting African violets, I concur with much of the advice above: they are easy to grow if they like their location, but they do like being potbound, and, whilst repotting can stress a non-flowering African violet to flowering, those plants that are currently flowering are highly likely to sulk if repotted. So, unless the leaves of your plant start wilting, start looking very leggy or otherwise start looking unhappy, I would leave well alone in terms of repotting.
Some links on African violets (I have no affiliation with any of these):
– a good example of the range of African violet leaf, flower types and colours can be seen at this Welsh plant nursery (which, I believe, holds a national collection of
African violet) – https://www.dibleys-shop.com/collections/saintpaulia-plugs, and;
– there are some nice American resources on African violets, such as https://www.violetbarn.com/what-we-grow/african-violets/ and https://avsa.org.
Apologies for my plant geekery….
Gloxinia.
They are in the same family as African Violets, have the same velvety leaves but the flowers are larger and more bell/trumpet shaped. I have a double flowered one on my kitchen window ledge and it purple and white and has been flowering for weeks.
My violets like to be ignored. I water them from the bottom, put them in a bright window without direct sun and ignore them until they dry out again. They come in white, purple, purple-y red, white with purple ends, single and double flowers. They can be split but then take awhile to start flowering again. I have had them for years.
If you don’t mind a plant that trails a bit there is a lovely green and white variegated coleus often called “coleus oregano ” because if you rub the fuzzy leaves it smells like oregano. I have one and it is not temperamental at all being alongside my African violets.
I was going to suggest Cape Primrose (Streptocarpus) and Phaleonopses Orchids too. I found the orchids like a little more sun than the Cape Primrose. Watering from the bottom had really helped my Cape Violets flower whereas orchids don’t like to sit in water, just water once a week and allow it drain.
I love African Violets but, now that I live in Phoenix, I am not having really good luck growing them. It seems that I am not the only one having problems because they are really hard to find in local markets. So enjoy your real flowers. I will enjoy your pictures.
Now, to the part of the blog that interested me, most. The audio book of “Sweep of the Blade” still isn’t listed for pre-sale. I guess that, if you are having problems with a narrator, the reason is explained. I pre-ordered print version, but still anticipate the audio version. Please don’t give up on that. I just, yesterday, finished re-reading (audio) the whole series, so far, in anticipation of the release of the new one. I still plan on buying audio if you can get it made.
In Australia we have African Violets in purples, pinks & whites. Also miniatures. I have never seen a live red one but they must be grown elsewhere in the world as I have seen pictures of them.
Yes you can divide them but into pots smaller than the one you took them out from.
They don’t like strong/hot sunlight so in Summer move them back a bit from the window.
You can grow new plants from a leaf in water or by putting it into a pot with african violet potting mix.
There are African Violet groups in Aust and I assume there would be in USA too. It’s always fun to go to the yearly shows & sales to see and buy.
This has nothing to do with the subject but I really wanted to post this. I have been without internet access for the last four years. (If you discount occasional forays to public library.) So what do I do as so as I finally get internet? I go through the entire back log of this blog. Every single post!
Yes I am a bit strange;) but I have learned so much. And here are the top five things I have learned for this blog.
5. No matter what you do, there always be complainers.
4. Type softly or your hands will stick it to you.
3. Feed the Horde at your own risk. For your words are like crack and some of the addicts can’t handle the withdrawls.
2. The jokes on you. Best April Fools revenge ever!!!!
And the number one thing I have learned???
1. Ilona Andrews swims in awesome sauce as we all know.(Author Lords indeed!) But Ilona and Gordon are awesome sauce. You are both incredibly engaging and accessible.
I wanna be a BDH member. Please?
The only requirement to be part of the Horde (or BDH) is to read the books. Reading the blog helps to keep track of what’s going on.
I meant that last part tongue and cheeky. I forgot the :). I do in fact have most of their books and have read almost all the stories/novellas too!
Don’t forget to check out the free stuff on the menu above. Curran’s tweets. Just saying 🙂
Everyone deserves a break. As for the flowers keep them in the pot they like to be crowded. You will know when to put them in a bigger pot when they stop blooming for a long period. Then they are pot bound and you need a bigger pot. But right now they look great!