Looked that one up... Buckeye Cranberry Sparkler should have red-backed leaves, maybe some pink in the crown leaves, and the darker color should be nearly solid around the edges

Hmmm - probably not, then. The backs of the leaves are pale pink, and the petals don't have continuous edging at all.

I looked up "african violet berry" in the NGA database but didn't come up with a definite match. Regardless, it's lovely!

It had a name tag at Lowes, but I left the labeled plant with a friend and started mine from a leaf. Hers died, and the name tag was tossed with the dead plant. Now she has one of the 3 that I separated, and she says it just started blooming for her after she had it a couple of months.

I can lose track of names in all sorts of different ways!

Got motivated and transplanted my leaf babies the other day. So far, so good. All of them will be dark blue, but some of them have girl foliage. When they get big enough, my oldest boy will take them off my hands. He teaches 6th grade, and they have a window garden in the classroom. He started that because the kids used to sit on the window sills and scratch graffiti on the walls before he took over. It is the most impoverished school in the whole district, and the kids take care of the plants now instead of making trouble. They will get to take these home with them.




He really wanted some of my Venus Flytraps, until I told him that he would have to buy distilled water for them. That isn't in the budget, you know, so he passed.

hawkeye_daddy said: He teaches 6th grade, and they have a window garden in the classroom. He started that because the kids used to sit on the window sills and scratch graffiti on the walls before he took over.

Smart man, your son. It's so sad that American society doesn't value teachers more. You ought to be very proud of him, hawkeye.

Venus Fly traps are not that easy to keep happy, anyway, even if they get rain water or distilled water. AVs are a very good choice.

Dale put up a link to Gleanings: https://gesneriadsociety.org/w...

QCAVS had their fall sale last weekend. I would have loved to have gone, but there was too much to do outside ahead of the big freeze.

Me too. I had to miss our AV & gesneriad sale and show in Minneapolis 'cause of too much to yard work and impending cold. Despite the warmer winters, I do miss the relative climate stability of yesteryear.

I miss the folks in the QCAVS club!!! They are the best!

BTW, Rick, I put some of those fritillaria seeds in damp paper towels in the fridge since I had so many of them. Germination was excellent. Too much so, as I have no idea what to do with all of them now.

That's great about the frit seeds. I don't think I told you that fritillaria species seed geminate at around 40°F, once they have satisfied their cold treatment. In the spring, I get my best germination in spring after the winter's snow has gone, but following a new snowfall that has remained for a few days to a week. They love that wet snow, and that's pretty much what a damp paper towel is in the fridge.

Be sure to grow on more seed than you want plants. There will be significant natural attrition.

Time to vote, everybody! Dale shared this link today, and I see one of our own has a contender!!!!

https://gesneriadsociety.org/c...

Looks like good eye candy, but I'm really spoiled by Dave's easy peasy way of casting votes in the NGA photo contests!

Has anyone on this thread ordered from this nursery?

https://lyndonlyon.com/store/

It was recommended to me recently. It's too cold to risk shipping anything until late Spring, but I made wishlist.

I haven't but I've heard good things about them.

Diana, my old AV club used to make group purchases from there. Several of our more dedicated members personally knew the owner, and thought very highly of him. There was talk at one point that they were afraid it was going to close down. I don't remember for certain, but I'm thinking Mr. Serano may have been having some health issues or something. We got plants and supplies from there. Going together on the orders helped minimize the shipping costs for everybody. It's been awhile, though. I can email Dale and ask her for an update.

Their site is still active. I have ordered from them several times. Top quality plants. It has been about a year since my last order.

Dale reports that Lyndon Lyon is still owned by the same gentleman, who is the grandson of the company's namesake. She also related that he offered to resupply some of her own hybrids after she lost her entire stock due to a virus outbreak

Wow! Sounds like a good place to support with my business. They have some really fun varieties of African Violets and other gesneriads. Thank you for digging a bit, @hawkeye_daddy.

Links to Gleanings and the AVS convention info:
https://gesneriadsociety.org/w...

https://africanvioletsocietyof...