MAGAZINE October 2005 AVSA Information FOR CONDUCTING BUSINESS WITHIN YOUR SOCIETY FOR ACCURATE SERVICE, SEND YOUR INQUIRIES TO THE CORRECT PERSON. ALWAYS INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. MEMBERSHIP DUES INCREASE EFFECTIVE OCT. 1, 2002: Send check payable to AVSA for new or renewable membership to AVSA Office, 2375 North Street, BeaumonOTX 77702; phone 409-839-4725 or 1-800-770-2872. Individual $25.00, USA only; Individual, all other countries - $27.50; Gbmmefdal USA $37.00; Commercial International - $38.75; Life (USA) - $300.00. International life $375.00. Remit in US. dollars with draft or check on a USA bank. See Membership' Application. Master Card/Visa accepted. AFFILIATES: Chapter - $27.00; Council, State, or Region - $27.00. MEMBERSHIP AND PROMOTION: Send ideas, offers to help, requests for assistance to Carolee' Carter, 10947 SW 71st Circle, Ocala, FL 33476. E-mail carolee37@earthlink.net AFFILIATES: For information on Affiliates or how to organize a chapter, write Bev Promersberger, 7992 Otis Way, Pensacola, FL 32506. E-mail promers22@hotmail.com. AVSA OFFICE: Jenny Daugereau, Office Manager, 2375 North Street, BeaumonL TX 77702,1-800-770-AVSA; 409-839-4725; FAX 409-839-4329. Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CST. E-mail avsa@earthlink.net. AVSA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION: Dr. Elmer Godeny, 7004 Government SL, Baton Rouge, LA 70806. BOOSTER FUND: Send contributions to Shirley Berger, Rd. - 196E, Sebring, FL 33872-2639. BOYCE EDENS RESEARCH FUND: Send contributions 17235 N. 106th Ave., Sun City, AZ 85373-1958. COMMERCIAL ACIwmES: Lynn Lombard, 790 Ridgecrest Dr., Colfax, CA 95713. COMMERCIAL SALES & EXHIBITS: For information on convention entries or sales room, contact Kathy Bell, 9611 E. Blanding Ln., Tucson, AZ 85747. Email kkbell@ag.arizona.edu. CONVENTION AWARDS: Jan. issue. Send suggestions or contributions for convention awards to Sue Hoffmann, 2809 Forest Hills Ct„ Virginia Beach, VA 23454-1236. Email avsaawards@cox.net CONVENTION PROGRAM: Send special requests for workshop programs or interesting speakers to Unda Owens, Convention Director, 1762 Stemwood Drive, Columbus, OH 43228. If interested in sponsoring a national convention MAGAZINE: Copyrighted 2005, The African Violet Society of America, Inc., aU rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission is prohibited. All articles are property of AVSA and must not be reprinted without Editor’s permission. AVM EDITOR: Ruth Rumsey, 2375 North Street, BeaumonL TX 77702; 409-839-4725; 1-800-770-2872; FAX 409-839-4329. E-mail rrumsey@earthlink.net ARTICLES BY MEMBERS, COLUMNISTS AND MEMORIALS: Send to Editor. - Dec. 1; May ii issue-Aug. 1. -Jan. l;May : Judith Carter, COMING EVENTS: Send to Editor. Coming Events Deadlines: - Jan. issue - Nov. 1; Mi issue - Mar. 1; July issue-May l;SepL issue-July 1 ADVERTISING MANAGER: Advertising rates i 1825 W. Lincoln SL, Broken Arrow, OK 74012 .1 ADVERTISING DEADLINES: Jan./Feb. issue issue - Jan. 1 ; May/June issue - Mar. 1; July/Aug. iss issue - July 1; NovTDec. issue - SepL 1. “AND THE WINNERS ARE...”: Send show results to Mary Corondan, 7205 Dillon Ct., Plano, TX 75024. BACK ISSUES: Complete your set now. Request price list of available issues from Beaumont office. Send SASE for list. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Send new address at least 30 days before it is to take effect, along with old address, to AVSA office in Beaumont. QUESTION BOX: Ralph Robinson, P. 0. Box 9, Naples, NY 14512. E-mail robsviolet@aol.com and Sue Haffher, 3015 Timmy Ave, Clovis, CA 93612-4849. MASTER VARIETY LIST: MVL SUPPLEMENTS: will be published in the AVM. Send any correction and/or description of new cuMvars with hybridizer’s name to Joe Bruns, 1220 Stratford Lane, Hanover Park, 1L 60130. MEMBERSHIP CARDS: Sent to Associate Members and New Members only. Renewing members receive card on white protective cover of AVM. OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE: AVSA Secretary, Nancy Hayes, 9 Cobblestone Rd., Bloomfield, CT 06002-3003. PLANT REGISTRATION: Joe Bruns, 1220 Stratford Ln., Hanover Park, IL SHORT VERSION OF CULTURE FOLDER: (postpaid): 500 to 1,000 $ per 500; 1,500 mid up $21.00 per 500. JUDGE’S DUPLICATE CARD: Send self-addressed stamped envelope Foster, 3610 Gray Dr., Mesquite, TX 75150. JUDGING SCHOOL: To register a judging school send reqi 3910 Larchwood Rd., Falls Church, VA 22041. A registration fee of $15 is required! 2375 North Street, BeaumonL TX 77702. List in September issue. Requests must be in writing. List top 3 choices. Allow 6 weeks for delivery. If you have ideas fora library program or slides to donate, write Tom Giembodd, 103 Downing Pl„ Apex, NC 27502. RESEARCH: Send suggested projects for scientific research or names of interested, qualified, potential research personnel to Dr. Jeff Smith, 3014 W. Amherst Rd., Muncie, IN 47304. SHOW ENTRY TAGS: 100 - $8.00 postpaid. Order from AVSA Office. SHOW SCHEDULE APPROVER: For information on Shows, AVSA Awards and Approving Schedules write to: Meredith Hall, F. 0. Box 370, Marlin, TX 76661. E-mail MHALL@woridissue.com. Do not send Show Schedules by Prepay your dues for up to 3 years and receive MembershipDiscount: $25 Individual (USA) 1 Year $27.50 Individual (International) 1 Year $49 - 2 Years $73 - 3 Years $53.00 - 2 Years $79.50 - 3 Years s aSf 265 ’ “ )anu ^' September. Novanta POSTMASTER: Please send change of address form 3579 to African Violet Magazine, 2375 Nnrrh -rv 77m 1 Street, BeaumonL TX 77702 African Violet September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 1 Dear AVSA Members, Looking at the weather map, it appears that the entire country has been enduring an extremely hot summer. Aren’t we lucky that our plants are indoors and enjoy the same temperatures that we do? When it’s too hot to work outdoors, you can always retreat to your plant room. I hope that all of you enjoyed the new look of the magazine in July. I thought that the additional color really added a lot to the articles. I know that it was the first issue with the new format, and I think that it can only get better. Jim Owens and Irina Lavrentieva from Russia have been working very hard to put the pictures of the Russian varieties on the website. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a minute to do some exploring in the Photograph section of the AVSA website. Click on Explore the Russian Varieties and view some really spectacular pictures. The varieties are extremely impressive and make me want to visit Russia just to get some leaves. The Executive Committee has been invited to hold their fall meeting at the Lone Star Convention in Corpus Christi, TX, Nov. 3 - 5. We have graciously accepted. If anyone has an item for the agenda of our meeting, please contact any member of the Executive committee, and your topic will be addressed at our meeting. Fall seems to be the season that many states and councils hold their conventions and shows. Be sure to check the Upcoming Events section of the website so that you won’t miss any shows in your area. If you are planning to do any traveling this fall, check to see if there are any shows in the areas where you will be. It’s always fun to have visitors at the shows, and it’s a good way to find new varieties in the sales rooms. I know that when I have visited other areas, I find that they may be growing plants that are rarely grown in my local area. It’s always fun to bring home something that no one else in the area has, and then share it with your club members. Before we know it, we’ll be headed for Minneapolis. It’s not too early to start saving and reserving the dates. The group there is working very hard to show us a great time, and I know that they want to have a really spectacular show. Start thinking of ways to transport those entries, either by car or plane, so that they will achieve their goal of 1,000 entries. Happy growing, Linda Owens President, AVSA September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 3 3 c/ito/'ls' < Votes Ruth Rumsey AVM Editor 2375 North Street Beaumont, TX 77702 Email: rrumsey@earthlink.net I appreciate all of the nice comments about the additional color in the AVM. As I mentioned in the last issue, with the additional color pages available, 1 hope you will send photos of your own plants for inclusion in the magazine. I would like to have a couple of pages of members’ plants in each issue. Please send slides or photos that you have taken, or if you are taking digital photos, please save them to a CD and mail it to me. Remember, all photos for inclusion in the AVM must be of the plant ONLY - no ribbons, no other plants, no happy faces, etc. Thanks to Maryann Switzer for answering my request for tips to make growing easier for our members. I hope that more of you will do the same! I always need original articles for the AVM as well. Maryann suggested a reprint of her article “Making a Travel Case for Your Violets” which ran in 1994; and is repeated in this issue (page 54). As more people join AVSA each day, there may be other articles from past issues that you feel would pass along help¬ ful information to them. Please send me your suggestions. The gorgeous plant gracing the cover of this issue is ‘Ma’s Lily Pad’, hybridized and grown by Olive Ma Robinson, and is the Best New Introduction from the 2005 AVSA National Show. Olive asked me make sure everyone knows that this plant is a release for 2006, as is the Third Best New Introduction, ‘Ma’s Moody Monday’. In the July/August issue, I failed to give our AVSA Official Photographer, Winston J. Goretsky, credit for the two photos I used to illustrate Bob Clark’s article on “Underwater Arrangements” on page 16. Sorry Winston! Our advertiser Beverly’s Violets and Gifts, has changed her phone number, information we did not receive in time to make the change in this issue. Please call (907) 338-4510 to get in touch with Beverly. Her ad can be found on the inside back cover. Remember that the 2005 List of AVSA Judges, Commercial Members, and Affiliated Clubs is now avail¬ able on the AVSA Web Site. Email the AVSA Office at avsa@earthlink.net to receive the password you will need for access. If you do not have computer access, please mail one dollar to the AVSA Office with your request for the 2005 list The listing of 2006 Convention Specified Awards is on page 21. A new award addition for 2006 is a Collection Award of the AVSA Registered Russian Standard African Violets. This generous award is being given by Vladimir and Tatiana Kalgin of Russia. If you have any questions, please contact our Awards chair, Sue Hoffmann, by email susan.hoffmann@juno.com, or at 2809 Forest Hills Court Virginia Beach, VA 23454. In this issue on page 27, you’ll find an article by Johanna Kolehmainen, of Finland, addressing “African Violet Conservation and Tourism in Thnga Region, Tanzania • On the color pages that follow, I think you will enjoy ufc beautiful photographs of the area that is home to species African violets. This project was funded in part by our Boyce Edens Research Fund. The Annual Library Message is on page 30 of this issue- Newly appointed Library Chair, Tom Glembocki, is probate a familiar name to many of you as he produced the DVDs CDs of past convention shows. . f . Thanks to Anne Nicholas, out-going Library Chair, the years she devoted to the job. It was truly a pleasure wo ing with you, Anne. . Remember that all Library requests must be made writing. Please select your top three choices when ordering^ Thanks for the well wishes at the birth of my grad ’ Gavin Michael Rumsey. The little guy arrived seve weeks early, but is home now and doing fine. cull/ c C Jm/cjCA' M Shows and Judges Committee K yfB 3610 Gray Drive m : ^rfl Mesquite, TX 75150 Email: lbpfoster@sbcglobal.net Hopefully, by the time you read this, I will be walking on two feet again. Kim Barr, Margery Clive, and Ron Davidson have been so good to take care of the plants, mix soil, etc. They will probably expect me to take care of some of the chores now. Each year some of our judges, after studying hard and tak¬ ing exams for many years, reach the top of the ladder and become MASTER JUDGES. We congratulate the following judges, who in October, will receive their Master Judges Certificates: Jean Bell, Canada, Ann Butler, Connecticut, Mary Corondan, Texas, Grace Davis, Texas, and Carolyn Klein, New York. Here are a few more questions from the judges’ breakfast uestion : Is it mandatory for judges to write com- y/ merits on red and white ribbon exhibits? Answer: No, it isn’t. However, if time permits, judges should write comments on these exhibits. uestion: On the critique sheet, should judges y/ include comments on all the questions (both posi¬ tive and negative) ? Answer: Yes, that is what the critique sheet is for. Lack of comments does not help the club. Comment on what is good, but also tell them what is wrong. How else will they know how to improve their show? Q uestion: Who is responsible for being sure the totals are added correctly on the collection sheets? Answer: The judges. Errors were made on several occa¬ sions this year. The schedule approver checks the sheets, and if an error is detected indicating an exhibitor did not receive the correct rosette, the proper rosette will be sent to them. uestion: In a terrarium, the judges noticed an y unnamed, non-blooming African violet hidden among other plants. How should this have been judged? Answer: No points would have been deducted for the unnamed, non-blooming African violet, provided the exhibitor also had one blooming violet in the terrarium. It is fine to use a non-blooming African violet. In this class, the African violet is not judged as a separate entity, but as a part of the overall landscape. We continue to get questions every year such as, “Why do some judges argue that simis and minis should not be selected as best in show”, and, “If a standard variegated African violet is selected best in show, shouldn’t it also be best standard?” I don’t know the answer to these questions. Judges are able to read, and our Handbook states that the highest scoring plant in the show is the best in show regardless of size. Perhaps when a judge tells you this, you could ask them to show you, in the Handbook, where it states that a semi or mini cannot be best in show. If a standard variegated plant is best it show, it should also be best variegated and best standard. The only exception would be if the award stated that this award is for the best standard with green foliage. AVSA Judge, Affiliates, and Commercial Members List The annual listing of AVSA Judges, Affiliates, and Commercial Members will no longer be included as an insert in the September/October African Violet Magazine. However, this valuable information will be available to our membership in two other convenient ways. For those of you with computer access and email, you may email the office avsa@earthlink.net for a password that you will use to download the list from the AVSA website, www.avsa.org . DO NOT CALL THE OFFICE FOR THIS PASSWORD. IT WILL ONLY BE GIVEN OUT BY EMAIL. If you do not have computer access or email, please send one dollar ($1.00) to the AVSA Office, 2375 North St., Beaumont, TX 77702, to cover postage and handling. The complete list will be mailed to you. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 5 Ralph Robinson RO. Box 9 Naples, NY 14512 Email: robsviolet@aol.com Getting this column to our editor is always a challenge this time of year, simply because it’s due just after the last of all the spring shows we attend and at the end of our busiest month of shipping. Still, I’d planned to sit down and work on the column well in advance of the deadline. Only one problem-we lost our database as well as the program that we wrote to manage it (the irony is that we lost it when trying to back it up onto a disk)! This meant a week’s work in the office that we hadn’t planned on (and much of our summer re-keying the data). This is the double-edged sword of technology - the easier it makes our lives, the more we become dependent upon it. We’ve since rewritten the program (it actually works better); it will take weeks to replace the data that was lost. In the mean¬ time, m take this chance to write the column. As is always the case, we are far too busy to reply to mail (or e-mail), though we do read all of it Should you want a personal reply, we are more than willing to answer phone calls made dur¬ ing our normal business hours (12-5 pm EST), since we can work and talk at the same time. For those with access to the internet, we can be reached at robsvioIet@aol.com or via our web-site at www.violetbam.com The web-site also contains a wealth of information (and answers to many of your questions). Q UESTION: What’s the best remedy for suckers? Answer: A simple question with a simple answer - bloom¬ ing! A sucker, of course, is an extra growing point (crown), usually appearing as a pair (or pairs) of leaves within the leaf axils beneath the original growing point in the uppermost, cen¬ ter of the plant. Unless this is a trailing variety, on which extra crowns should be encouraged, or a species violet, which you can choose to grow multiple-crowned, these suckers should be removed at first sight. Allowing them to develop not only distorts the symmetry of the plant, but will also delay and/or discourage production of buds and blooms. Your violet produces suckers as a means of reproducing itself. If unchecked, those suckers will eventually grow into entirely new plants, leaving you with a multiple-crowned plant that will then need dividing, hue, it may continue to sporadi¬ cally bloom, but it will bloom much more if not allowed to sucker. Why? By not allowing your plant to reproduce vegeta- tively, it must try to reproduce itself sexually by flowering. It will bloom earlier and more, if not allowed to sucker In our experience, varieties that seem to sucker the most when young also seem to bloom the most once suckers are removed. ‘Rob's Jitterbug’, is an excellent example. It is a terrific propagator producing lots of plants, very quickly, from a rooted leaf. Once potted, it grows quickly-and produces lots of suckers! Once they are removed, however it will produce lots and lots of bloom, continuously, without producing another sucker I j doesn’t need to, since it’s much too busy blooming! The moral? Suckering can be a good thing, so long as they’re removed is a timely way. It’s evidence of a vigorous plant with a strong survival instinct. You only need to tell it how! SyjESTION: What is a chimera, and why is it m expensive? I remember seeing violets with yin- wheel” stripes on the blooms. Are these chimeras? * 1 Answer: As defined in Webster’s Dictionary, a “chimera is “living structure or organism in which the tissues are of var¬ ied genetic origin”. What this means, simply, is that our usual way of propagating violets, by leaf cutting, won’t necessary produce plants with the same appearance, since not all leave have the same genetic make-up. Perhaps none will haven* > same as the original plant they are removed from. On ofXd f®\ they might and will produce plandets looking like the do plant, but the likelihood is small-too small for comme growers to propagate by leaf cuttings efficiently. Instead, most commercials need to propagate chim ^f®A a method that gives them the greatest likelihood of P rodl ™ plants identical to the donor plant, at the least cost. This tyF cally means propagating by suckers, preferably those P roc “* nearest the crown or growing tip of the plant (where we best evidence of the desired trait of the plant). This invo ^ “decrowning” the plant, removing its top or center leaves , carefully done, this crown can be rerooted by firmly P ress v’ into a small pot of fresh, moistened soil, and then placing ■ clear, covered container for 3-6 weeks until rooted. On# ^ main crown is removed, the plant, as a matter of surviv attempt to produce another crown (or crowns) by sue September* October2005 6 African Violet Magazine When large enough, these suckers can be “harvested” and rooted. Many (but not all) of these will develop into plants hav¬ ing the same appearance as the original donor plant. Propagating plants this way is much more costly, in terms of both time and space, with a much smaller yield of plants than by leaf cuttings. This is why chimeras are more expensive. Of course, those varieties that are more difficult to propagate by this means, or yield a smaller number of plants having the desired traits, are even more expensive. Though varieties having “pinwheel” blooms are often chimeras, they aren’t necessarily so. The term “chimera” refers to the genetic make-up of the plant, not the appearance of the bloom. If leaf cuttings don’t produce plantlets having the same appearance (genetic makeup) of the donor plant, then it’s most likely a chimera. The term is also not limited to flower appear¬ ance or habit and can refer to foliage. One obvious example might be ‘Rob’s Lucky Penny’ which has variegated leaves and which can only be successfully propagated from suckers. Rooting leaves of this variety will produce all-green foliaged plants with no variegation. e yjESTION: I purchased, a basket of a Columnea last year It’s growing well but has become long and stringy and hasn’t bloomed in a longtime. Should I cut it back or give it more light? Answer: Yes and yes. Columneas are relatives of violets, typically with yellow, orange, and/or red-colored tubular blooms that look like “flying fish”. They are great plants for windows because they like to either spread or cascade out of a hanging pot or across a windowsill. Tb look and bloom their best, they should be occasionally pruned to encourage more stems to be produced. This will keep your plant looking full and lush. If never done, you’ll eventually see a “bald spot” in the center of the plant where old leaves have fallen off, no new growth has been produced, and there are long, stringy stems that have never been forced to branch. Columnea , like many plants, tend to bloom from the newest growth-the ends of the stems. Pruning, then, might seem the wrong thing to do. It isn’t. What we do is the follow¬ ing. When the plant is young, cut back the stems to one or two nodes above the point where it last was pinched and has branched. Repeat this once or twice again until the plant has developed the M, dense appearance that you want Then allow it to grow without further pinching or pruning. Now when it blooms, it will produce even more flowers. Why? More stems mean more places from which flowers can be produced! Eventually, you’ll want to trim it back again just to keep it look¬ ing “fresh”, but don’t worry, it will grow out and bloom again. Very old plants can eventually become very “woody", making them unattractive, even with proper pruning. These can be repotted into a large pot if you wish, burying some of the bare, old stems when you do so and severely cutting back the plant. Then, let the plant grow out again. Some Columnea are seasonal bloomers and will tend to bloom only once or twice a year. In windows, conditions tend to be very seasonal, at least in our climate and latitude. Besides day length and light intensity, cooler nighttime temperatures tend to trigger production of flowers. Many of our plants in our glasshouse bloom much more prolifically in the spring and fall because of this. Many others, including the one in question, should bloom more or less throughout the year if given consis¬ tent, bright (not direct) light. As a general rule, this means a bright east or west-facing window (keep in mind every house is different) or, if grown under artificial light, at a bit closer to the light fixtures than you grow your violets. SyjESTION: One of my plants has some very fine y white powder on thejlowers. I though it was dust so I brushed it off. Since then, it reappeared and covers the plant. I don’t know what it is. Can you help? Answer: Forgive me if this topic has been covered many times before, but it is THE most-asked question that we receive, and merits revisiting. The powder being described is “powdery mildew”, a very common problem and, fortunately, one that is not fetal to your plant and easily dealt with. There are a few ways of dealing with the problem, depending upon the number of plants, severity of the problem, and your ambition. To begin, remove any blooms that are covered in mildew, since removing the mildew from blooms is difficult without damaging them. Then you can deal with the foliage. One method is to simply wash the plant Using room-temperature water and mild soap (like Ivory), suds-up your fingers and massage the leaves, and then rinse. Avoid placing the still-wet plant in direct sun or cold drafts. Another solution is to use powdered (or “precipitated”) sulphur. This can be purchased at most pharmacies, and a for a few dollars you can buy a lifetime supply. This fine, yellow powder works great on eliminating powdery mildew, but you don’t want to use so much as to replace the unsightly white powder with an unsightly yellow one. Using a small, soft- bristled brush, apply just a very small amount of sulphur to the surface (and undersides, if needed) of the leaves. Then immediately brush away. Don’t use wet or apply to wet leaves since this will make it difficult to remove. The easiest solution, especially for larger numbers of plants, is to spray using a “neem” oil solution. “Neem” is a non-toxic, natural product that is both easy to use and very effective in control¬ ling powdery mildew. Mix the oil in water with a small amount of dish soap, according to the directions on the bot¬ tle, and apply to your plants with a fine spray. Except for a handful of varieties, blooms won’t be damaged, leaves will actually look cleaner, and the mildew will be gone. You can reapply whenever the mildew reappears. Since powdery mildew is most likely to appear when air is stagnant and tem¬ peratures are uneven, try to avoid these conditions in your growing area. Avoid areas where nighttime temperatures are significantly cooler, and provide good air circulation by not overcrowding plants, being sure there is some air movement in the room. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 7 c Pio/et& Barbara Elkin Vintage Violets Committee 2855 Gayle Lane Auburn, CA 95602-9674 Email bjabar@earthlink.net hVSAMoStWanted Apricot Frost Ava Aztec Queen Ballet Ice Palace Coon Valley Coral Radiance Eleanor Jack Frost Joey Mayhem Midnight Twist My Desire Ness’ Twinkle Pink Oh Melba Plaything Priscilla Rebel’s Cherries Flambe Silver Crest Symmetry in Blue twist of Fate IN MEMORY DOROTHY TOWNSEND Dorothy Townsend of Padstow, Australia, passed away June 5, 2005. For many years, Dorothy had been a member of AVSA, the African Violet-Gesneriad Society of NSW, Inc., as well as many other clubs in Australia. Dorothy and her husband, Reg, were two of the students who undertook the course of study to become judges of African violets in the early days. % Dorothy’s reputation as a judge was well regarded, and she whs invited to judge many shows around Atisflafih. Dorothy’s interest was not only in violets, but the other gesneriads as well. She read and studied all s the plants. To further her knowledge and e and Reg attended several AVSA conventi&is j States and imported new varietigs^ftnj sharing leaves and plantlets among dub fl always happy to talk about plants, help ’ people wera v having; and was generous wp Dorothy was active inlo^tfi groups in pn as tS’Venxral Coast and Hunter Valley grfips. sat^Wssed at all meetings and Shows. AVSA LIFE MEMBERSHIPS As of July 1, 2005 Life Membership Dues are $600.00 International Life Membership Dues are $750.00 8 African Violet Magazine September • October Rob’s Fiddle Faddle 2nd Best In Show 2005AVSA National Show From Best Robinson Collection Exhibited by: Kathy Lahti Hybridized by: R. Robinson Semiminiature September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 9 )oe Bruns 1220 Stratford Lane Hanover Park, IL 60133 Email: jbruns@qwip.net The Plant Registration Committee and the Master List of Species and Cultivars Committee have been combined into one, the Plant Registration and Master Plant List Committee As a consequence, my wife, Janice, is now serving as a mem¬ ber. and 1 will chair the new committee. Thanks, Janice, for serving the past three years as Chairman. Other members of the committee are Iris Keating, Lynn Lombard, and Dr Jeff Smith. " 1 A name reservation costs $1.00 and is valid for two 22““ “tended two years for an additional $1.00. Registration of the plant is $5.00 unless completed 1 reservation period, in which case the balance is then $4.00. Please make check payable Dolores Harrington - Fridley, MN ‘Dolores’ Raspberry Sundae (9406) 4/1/05 (D Harrington) Semidouble raspberry ruffled star Variegated medium green and cream, heart-shaned quilted, pebbled, ruffled/red back. Standard ‘Buckeye Icebreaker (9411) 4/30/05 (P. Hancock) Semidouble rose-pink large ruffled star/wide white band, variable green edge. Variegated medium green and cream, plain, quilted. Large ‘Buckeye Leprechaun Charm (9412) 4/30/05 (P. Hancock) Semidouble lavender ruffled pansy/darker top petals, purple band, variable white-green edge. Variegated dark green, pink and cream, plain/red back. Large Darryl Hoover - Parker, CO ‘Baby Darryl (9413) 5/6/05 (D. Hoover) Semidouble-dou¬ ble medium pink pansy/thin green band, white edge. Variegated medium green, pink and white, plain/red back. Semiminiature 'Tiny Dancer (9414) 5/6/05 (D. Hoover) Semidouble-dou¬ ble medium pink pansy/white edge. Variegated medium green, pink and white, plain/red back. Semiminiature Janet Stromborg - Denmark, WI “f 0 ” < 9407 > 05 a. Stromborg) Sim Semitone pafe blue two-tone ruffled star/darkereye. D •Allf^ qUi “ ed ' a *P ed/red hack. Stand; Allegro Careless Love (9408) 4/4/05 (j. strombo evf ter '. 0 ' 3 ' tW. Fax: 409.839.4329 or US Postal Service: AVSA Coining Events 2375 North St., Beaumont, TX 77702 September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 11 Symphonette Exhibited by: Beverly Williams From Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection 2005National Show Hybridized by: Y. Lambert Semiminiature Shy Blue Exhibited by: Jim Toms Hybridizedby: S. Sorano/Lyon Greenhouses Semiminiature 12 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Rob*s Sticky Wicket Exhibited, by: Joyce Stork Hybridized by: R. Robinson Semiminiature Trailer September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 13 Dr. Jeff Smith The Indiana Academy Ball State University Muncie, IN 47306 Email: JSmith4@bsu.edu While at the AVSA convention in Cincinnati last April, I was asked about the inheritance of some of the more unusual foliage types. Some of these are making a comeback in popu- lanty and are appearing more often in shows. For example, there was around a half dozen plants with bustled foliage on the show floor. The following guide will give some guidance on the inheritance of these traits: Bustled foliage - dominant to plain foliage Girl foliage - dominant to plain foliage Clackamas foliage also known as watermelon veins - dom¬ inant to plain foliage Quilted foliage - dominant to plain foliage Longifolia foliage - dominant to plain foliage Ruffled or Holly foliage - dominant to plain foliage Spooned foliage - recessive to plain foliage Please note that all but one of these leaf traits is a genetic dominant to plain foliage. If one parent shows the foliage type, about half of the offspring will also show the trait. It is also pos¬ sible to combine some of these traits together. I have seen nice examples of longifolia + bustled and longifolia + ruffled Another leaf trait that is a possible dominant is toothed foliage. This trait is found in the species Saintpaulia diplotncha Punter and came through as a dominant in at least one of my crosses. 0 * Wh y do some P^ts with girl foliage have more * texture and wrinkles than others? A: Girl foliage shows a dose effect in its inheritance One copy of the gene gives girl foliage with less texture; two conies gives leaves with more texture. The later plants are often verv difficult to shape because the leaves grow tightly together. In these cases, removing alternate layers of leaves may help 'the foliage to lay more flat. Most hybridizers work with single dose plants m order to have offspring with more manageable foliage. f).' ve seen pictures in the older issues of the African V/# Violet Magazine which show plants with gorgeous rujjledfoliage. Is it possible to find plants with this type of foliage today? A* If you have a specific cultivar in mind, tty contacting Barbara Elkin with the Vintage Violets in the African Violet Magazine. She may be able to help you locate a grower who still has some of these plants. Another possibility is to check in the Master Variety List for plants with this type of foliage. It is easy to look for specific foliage types using the First Class 2 program. This may give you the names of more recent hybrids with ruffled foliage. A third possibility is to create your own hybrids. The trait is a genetic dominant and likely shows a dose affect Tty hybridizing two plants that have at least some ruffling in their oliage. These plants will likely have a single dose of the trait When crossed together, a few of the offspring should inherit both doses and have heavy ruffling. The trait should start to show in the first sets of leaves of the offspring and allow you to select for plants with raffled foliage while the plants are young Good luck with your search or with your crosses. 0 0 What is the mechanism by which a mature plant p changes over time from light green foliage to dark green birth markedfoUage? Is there a structure in the plant that signals the switch? A Plants are built differently than animals or humans and not have a gland that serves as a master switch to turn on baits. Plants make most of their changes through individual cells or in small groups of cells. I can think of at least two rea¬ sons for the changes you describe. Fust, it is not uncommon for African violets to be pale green when the plants are smaller. Many cultivars become r green over time, predominantly by activating the gene September • October 2005 14 African Violet Magazine for red leaf backing. This gene may be triggered by light and fertilizer clues or with the age and size of the leaf. The activa¬ tion of the gene may not occur in all cells at the same time, giving the leaves blotches of red and non-red backing. As the plant matures, the gene is fully expressed, and all the leaves show the red backing. Second, if what you describe has occurred to a large My grown plant, then there may have been a mutation or sport take place. New leaves are produced in an area of the plant known as the shoot apical meristem. This very tiny cluster of cells is located in the center of the crown and is the source for all new leaves. Because of its small size, a mutation in one of these cells has a disproportional effect because all future cells descended from the mutant cell will have the mutation. As the number of mutant cells increases and more and more leaves are produced, the mutation will become visible in more parts of the plant Over time as the new leaves replace the older leaves, the plant will appear to “change” into a new type. Sometimes the leaf is a mixture of mutant and normal cells. If the gene was a mutation that activated the red backing trait, then red areas would appear in the leaves. These random spots of red are called “birth marks” and frequently signal that a mutation or sport has occurred. If birth marked leaves are used in propagation, the offspring may be of various types such as the original, a sport, or a mixture of both. An example of this type of sporting is sometimes seen in plants with fantasy flowers. One side of the plant sports to solid blue while the other half of the plant remains fantasy. In other cases, the sport is to a solid pink while the rest of the plant remains fantasy. Sometimes all three possibilities are seen in one plant. When the shoot apical meristem sports, the outcome can be some very interesting plants. 0 # Can the same sport occur more than once or is 0 each a separate event with a unique outcome? A: There is evidence that some sports have occurred more than once. For example, ‘Ma’s Melody Girl’ is a girl foliage sport of ‘Ode to Beauty’. The result is the same as the original girl foliage sport of ‘Blue Boy* to ‘Blue Girl’, but each was a separate event. Other sports to girl foliage have also been reported. The sport of plain foliage to girl foliage involves the loss of a control gene. The mutation could be in any loca¬ tion in the DNA for the gene, but the end result is still the same. Without knowing the exact DNA sequence and where mutation has occurred, it’s difficult to say if the two sports are exactly the same. It probably doesn’t matter since any mutation that causes the loss of the control gene gives the same result in the physical appearance of the plant. Membership Application Application for Membership Recommended by_Mem. #_ The African Violet Society of America, Inc. 2375 North Street, Beaumont, TX 77702 Date _ Membership runs one year from date paid and includes 6 issues of the AFRICAN VIOLET Magazine. □ Individual Membership USA ($25.00) □ Associate Member USA ($10.00-no magazine, must reside at same address as a person having any other class of membership) □ International Membership ($27.50) □ International Associate ($ 11.50-no magazine, must reside at same address as a person having any other class of membership) □ Commercial USA ($37.00) □ Commercial International ($38.75) □ Affiliated Chapter USA ($27.00) □ Affiliated Chapter International ($29.50) □ Affiliated State, Regional and Council ($27.00) □ Life Member ($600.00) Y]SA ' MC accepted Card #-Exp. Date_ □ Library ($25.00) signature___ □ International Life ($750.00)_E-mail Address □ New Member □ Renewal Mem. #_ (Please type or print) Name_ Address_ City- State_Zip_Country_ Make checks payable to AVSA, Inc. INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS: please remit in US$ with a draft or check on a USA bank. International Postal money orders accepted. Dues are not refundable. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 15 Meet Ste v ~ Nall, Premia Hyr fezer by Joyce Stork Florist gloxinia, more property called is a glorious plant that has had great success in the retail market but isn’t often seen in shows. That may change once the work being done by Steve Hall is better known. A number of years ago, Steve built a greenhouse onto his home on the outskirts of Wayne, Nebraska. Since then he has worked single- mindedly to master the growing and breeding of better gloxinias. Many of his seedlings have been sold at wholesale to florists in the surrounding area, and he has built a loyal following seeking his gorgeous double flowers and rich colors. But he has higher goals than making florists happy... Steve wants to improve the genus, and it is working. Steve’s current seedlings come in a rainbow of colors including remark¬ ably deep red and plum-fuchsia tones. Many of them have double flowers, which he says last much longer than angles. Several hybrids in the “Contrast" series (named so because of the interesting darker vein pattern of the leaves) have flow¬ ers that are not only double but Florist gloxinias have special needs, not the least of which is fairly intense light. In a home environment, Steve recommends a regimen of twelve hours of Verilux spotlights set four to five feet above the plants to promote good bloom and ormArt+i --untains a pot t0 p i ant rat io that is very similar to African violets, but he prefers to allow multiple crowns per pot. He also warns that it is necessary to be con¬ stantly vigilant for Fusarium, a fungus disease that damages the plant and causes buds to fail- When the disease is controlled, gloxinias will grow to tremen¬ dous size with each crown bearing thirty or more buds and blooms. Those who are interested can find information about his work at his website www.gloxiniane.com . Steve has also been invited to do a presen¬ tation on his work with glox¬ inias at the 2006 Minneapolis convention. Gloxinias are new all over again! 16 African Violet Magazine September • October . September • October , African jAZINE 17 {fiecj/t i/mer& Elmer Godeny 7004 Government Street Baton Rouge, LA 70806 Email: ekgprof@cox.net Repotting Your Plants Whenever I give talks at Garden clubs, at our club’s shows, or during our local plant sales, the most common question I get is, "When and how do 1 repot my African violet?” In order to keep your plant healthy, full of blooms, and looking great, you must repot your plant Many experienced growers will repot their plants every three to four months. This is great if you are planning to place your plants in a show. However, most peo¬ ple do not have the time to repot their plants that often. AM African violet plants should be repotted twice a year (at a very minimum each plant needs to be repotted at least once a year). This allows the plant to develop new roots, eliminates long neck formation, and removes accumulated fertilizer salts from the top of the soil. When repotting African violets, it is a good idea to have all of your supplies handy so you don’t have to go searching for a tool when the plant is lying on your table with its roots exposed. At a minimum, you will need your African violet mix (soil-less mix), pots, spoons, or some other tool for scooping your mix, a knife, scissors, tape, pen, and wicking material (if you wick water your plants). When repotting African violets, always start by making a label for the new pot containing the plant name and date of potting. This prevents misidentification of plants when taken to show, and adding the date of repotting to the label helps to identify when the plant needs to be repotted in the future Further, the label tells others the hybrid name when they admire it The first step in repotting African violets is to remove all of the dead material such as leaves and blossoms if you have not done so previously. Completely disbud your plant; this allows the plant to direct its energy to new root formation rather than directing the energy to the blooms after repotting. DO NOT WORRY; THE PLANT WILL BLOOM AGAIN! Tfcke a good look at the plant Do all the leaves look healthy? Is the foliage symmetrical? Does the plant growth look continuous or is there an obvious change in plant growth? Is the foliage evenly distributed? Are there gaps between the leaves or uneven growth? This is the time to remove unwant¬ ed leaves to obtain better foliage symmetry. Removal of unwanted foliage will also stimulate plant growth. BE CARE¬ FUL WHEN REMOVING FOLIAGE. Once a leaf is removed from the plant it cannot be reattached. If you are not sure if a leaf should be removed from the plant, cover it with your hand or with toilet tissue and then look at the symmetry of the plant. If the symmetry looks better with the leaf covered, then remove the leaf; if covering the leaf results in poorer symmetry, then keep the leaf on the plant. Figure 1 shows a plant about to be repotted. Notice the outer leaves are small¬ er than the leaves closer to the center of the plant Further, the outer, smaller leaves have longer peti- Fimre -— oles. These smaller leaves e are baby leaves; they are the first leaves to appear on a new plant, and they wfll never ftdly mature in size. These leaves will be removed so future growth of the plant will nil in the gaps created by these •eaves (fig. 2 ). To remove Mage and/or blossoms, grab the leaf petiole or blossom stem at its base and carefully ^^2 September • October 2 18 African Violet Magazine twist it to one side until the petiole or stem comes off the plant. As leaves are removed from the plant, the bare stem is exposed forming a “neck”. The neck is made up of the plant stem between the top of the soil-less mix and the bottom row of leaves. This neck will be planted below the soil-less mix, and new roots will develop from this stem. It is important to scrape the neck with your fingernail or a knife (fig. 3) to remove any scar tissue and to stimulate root growth. However, do not cut too deeply into the neck, only remove the outer layer of tissue and any residual leaf petioles from the neck. When done, the stem tissue should be fairly Fi S ure 3 smooth and moist. You will next have to decide what pot will become your plant’s new home. A good rule of thumb is that you want the pot to be one/third the diameter of the foliage. However, the pot size also depends on the amount of roots on the plant. Plants with more roots can be placed in larger pots than those with fewer roots. Place the plant label on the pot Do not increase the pot size too drastically. A 4-inch pot can hold a lot more volume than a 3-inch pot. Remember, more soil-less mix holds more water in the pot. If the root system cannot absorb all of the moisture in the mix, the water will remain in the mix caus¬ ing root-rot. Thke the plant out of the old pot and remove any loose soil-less mix from the top of the root ball; fertilizer salts that have accumulated in the mix will be removed. If you are going to repot the plant into the same size pot as it was in previous¬ ly, you will need to cut off the bottom of the root ball equal in depth to the height of the neck. If you are “potting-up” (going to a larger pot), then you can bury the root ball and neck in the new pot. If you are “potting-down” (placing the plant in a smaller pot), you will have to cut off more of the root ball. Cutting roots off is stressful to the plant; if you cut too many roots, the plant will go into shock and may not recover. A good rule of thumb is to never remove more than one-third of the root ball. If wick watering your plants, you will need to place your wetted wick in the pot. I like to pull the wick through the bottom of the pot and position it to the top of the pot direct¬ ly across from the entry point (fig. 4). Everyone places their wicks differ¬ ently; some growers will coil the wick on the bottom of the pot while others will bring the wick straight up to the top of the pot from the point of entry. Wick placement is unique to each grower; if it works, stay with it After the wick has been placed, fill the pot with African violet mix. Begin by placing a few spoonfuls of mix in the bottom of the pot while holding the wick, and then place the old pot inside the new pot. Fill in the space between the two pots with soil-less mix (fig. 5). After the space is filled, remove the inner pot, and you will have a mold for the root ball of the plant (fig. 6). Place the plant into the new pot and add soil-less mix to bury the neck (fig. 7) and fill in any spaces around the root ball. Thp the potted plant on the table surface a few times to further elimi¬ nate air spaces in the pot. DO NOT COM¬ PACT THE SOILESS MIX IN THE POT WITH YOU FINGERS OR INSTRUMENTS as African violets like light and airy mix around their root systems. Compacted soil-less mix will hold more water in the pot and cause root-rot. The finished product is shown in figure 8. The plant is planted in fresh soil, looks more symmetrical, and has a healthy appearance. In summary, African violets are hearty plants that need to be repot¬ ted in order to stay healthy and look¬ ing great. With proper care the same African vio¬ let plant could bring you and your future generations decades of happiness and beauty. Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 8 September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 19 The Disappearing Chimera by Neil Lipson The Light Bulb Went OFF About 2 months ago, with the warmer weather, I found my religion, bringing back my violets to their former stun¬ ning appearance. As I always do when this happens, I get all the copies of African Violet Magazine that I put in a neat pile, and start catching up from last year. I noticed two articles that made me think hard; the first by Richard Follett on “My Quest to Preserve Rob’s Hybrids”, and the 2nd, the column by Barbara Elkin on “AVSA Most Wanted”. When I used to read Barbara’s column, I thought these were violets in a popularity contest. 1 didn’t understand they were violets that were becoming more difficult to find. After 1 read one of the lists she printed, I said, “Holy cow, I have many of these plants!” I then also noted that one of my all time favorites was on the list, ’Red Pinwheel’, which I lost five years ago when they all reverted back to solid red. I then did some checking on the internet and found I couldn’t find many of my old favorites, neither for love or money. What was going on here? In the quest for many hobbyists to have the newest and prettiest violets, they ignored the classic older ones, to the point where no one grew them any more. However, the problem was really exacerbated when I thought of my chimeras, which account for 50% of my plants. My chimeras wei disappearing! Why? You have to remember that if you are losing a regular African violet, you can immediately pull off at least six leaves and rescue the plant in that way. However, when a chimera reverts to the solid color, losing the pinwheel colors, you’re in big trouble. You can't start new plants with leaves, and any suckers you start will probably have reverted too! You then have to either have another plant, or find one from a friend. TYy finding ‘Red Pinwheel’ or ‘Sugar N’ Spice’ from a friend! Good luck. What have I been doing? I grow about four or five plants each of my chimeras, and fall back on the pure¬ bred when one of them reverts. I then give away the ones that are reverting, and many people don’t mind because they are still beautiful plants. Weil, the trouble started when I was down to three plants and two of them reverted. I then started to panic. Fortunately, I gave two plants to friends, and one of the plants then popped back into 20 African Violet Magazine the clean pinwheel in my friend’s possession. Some chimeras have a habit of doing just that. The Solution I then gave some thought as to how many of the chimeras I lost in the last 20 years, and it was about 2/3 of my chimera collection. That’s quite a few plants, which I may never see again. So here’s what I did: I started propagating my special chimeras, ‘Sugar N’ Spice’, ‘Red Mt. Fuji’, ‘Satin N’ Lace’, and ‘Concord’, for example. This was very time con¬ suming and space consuming too. But it had to be done. I only have four shelves on my light stand, and they were packed full. All non-essential plants went into other rooms, as backups. I will now use the power of the press, and request from many of the thousands of readers a list of what chimeras you have. Just the chimeras, nothing else. All you have to do is email me the list. 1 want to act as a clearinghouse of infor¬ mation so we, as a group, do not lose these beautiful plants of the past. I will be limiting this to chimeras only. There’s too many African violets out there for me to catalog all of them. Even the chimeras will be a chore, but I’m not going to sit by while they disappear forever. It’s like losing a species. I need your opinions on this matter. Any comments would be welcome. I also want to know which chimeras you know of are stable or not so we can evaluate whether it is worth the effort in reviving these old classics. If we work as a group on this, we can bring these plants back from the “endan¬ gered” group. At the very least, with your help, I can find out how serious the problem is. Neil Lipson is a full bn* computer consultant. He can be reached by emailing him ~t Lipson@att.neJ or calling 610-356-6183 after 1 pm eastern time. I will return your call as I have unlimited long distance. As a last resort, you can mail me at: Neil Lipson 29 S. New Ardmore Ave. Broomall, PA 19008 September • October 200$ 2006 Convention Specific Awards H The excitement has begun for “Violets Vacation in ^Minneapolis”. Here is the list of Specific Variety and Collection Awards for our Minneapolis show. There are lots of varieties - large and small. Can’t you see the show room? You know, awards encourage people to show, and they also serve as a reward for doing well. Members and affiliates make these awards possible through their donations. I look forward to hear¬ ing from you. || To be a part of the action, please send your awards : (payable in U.S. funds) to: Sue Hoffmann, AVSA Awards Chairman 2809 Forest Hills Court Virginia Beach, VA 23454 avsaawards@cox.net Deadline to be included on the Jan/Feb AVM Awards Page jffc October 15. Please include an email address or telephone contact. Best Rebel’s Meg $25 - Ruth Bann (MN) Best Rebel’s Minnesota Haze $25 - Ruth Bann (MN) Best Rebel’s Splatter Kake $15 - AVS of Minnesota (MN) Best Rebel’s Splatter Kake $25 - Ruth Bann (MN) Best Rosie Ruffles $15 - AVS of Minnesota (MN) Best Shill’s Senior Moment $25 - Shirley Sanders (TX) Best Sora Kalissa $25 - Barbara & Charles Wemess (MN) Best Sora Patty Ann $25 - Barbara & Charles Wemess (MN) Best The Alps* $100 - Kazuo Horikoshi (Tokyo, Japan) Best The King (Maas) $25 - Janet Riemer (NJ) Best Tiger $100 - Nancy Price (IA) Best Vintage Wine $25 Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses/Paul Sorano (NY) Best “Ozark” Sinningia $35 - Dave’s Violets (MO) Best Streptocarpus ‘Night Beacon’ $25 - Cedar Valley Violet Club (IA) Specific Com mercial Awards Best Rebel’s Minnesota Haze $25 - Ruth Bann (MN) Best Holtkamp Collection $300 - Holtkamp Greenhouses 2nd Best Holtkamp Collection $200 - Holtkamp Greenhouses 3rd Best Holtkamp Collection $100 - Holtkamp Greenhouses Best Buckeye Love’s Caress $50 - Pat’s Pateh/Pat Hancock (OH) Best Chanticleer $25 - Sue Hoffmann (VA) In memory of Paula Foster Best Concord $100 - Kazuo Horikoshi flbkyo, Japan) Best Dean’s Bunny Blue $25 - Shirley Sanders (TX) Best Dolores’ Chantilly Lace $25 - Dolores Harrington (MN) Best Duluth $25 - Dolores Harrington (MN) Best Emilie Savage $25 - Jim & Linda Owens (OH) Best Everdina $25 - Hans & Everdina Inpijn (CA) Best Frozen in Time $25 - Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses/Paul Sorano (NY) Best Irish Flirt $50 - Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses/Paul Sorano I (NY) Best Lilian Jarrett Variegated (#2902) $100 - Anne Tinari (PA) In memory of Frank linari Best Louisiana Lagniappe $100 - The Baton Rouge Convention group Best Maas’ Mark $25 - Hattie Baggett (AZ) Best Mickey Mouse $25 - Hans & Everdina Inpijn (CA) Best Nancy Hayes (trailer) $25 - Nancy Hayes (CT) Best Ness’ Crinkle Blue $25 - Lakes Area Violet Growers (MN) Best Ness’ Crinkle Blue Rosette - Triangle AVS (NC) Best Ness’ Satin Rose $25 - Lakes Area Violet Growers (MN) Best Precious Pink $50 - Ray & Hortense Pittman (TX) Best Queen Anne $100 - Catherine Thompson (IA) Best Buckeye Collection $150 - Pat’s Patch/Pat Hancock (OH) 2nd Best Buckeye Collection $50 - Pat’s Patch/Pat Hancock (OH) Best Holtkamp Collection $300/Coin - Holtkamp Greenhouses 2nd Best Holtkamp Collection $200 - Holtkamp Greenhouses 3rd Best Holtkamp Collection $100 - Holtkamp Greenhouses Best Robinson Collection** $ 150 - Ralph & Olive Ma Robinson (NY) 2nd Best Robinson Collection $50 - Ralph & Olive Ma Robinson (NY) Best Russian Hybrid Collection*** $300 - Vladimir & Thtiana Kalgin (Moscow, Russia) 2nd Best Russian Hybrid Collection $200 - Vladimir & Thtiana Kalgin (Moscow, Russia) 3rd Best Russian Hybrid Collection $100 - Vladimir & Thtiana Kalgin (Moscow, Russia) * The winner of the Best The Alps will also receive a special Japanese chimera from Kazuo Horikoshi. ** The winner of the Robinson Collection will also receive a beautiful, handmade beaded African violet from Svetlana Speransky valued at $175. See http://robsviolet.com to view. *** We are happy to add this collection of Russian hybrids. All must be AVSA registered varieties, and several of the Commercial members have stock. This listing has only Specific Variety and Collection Awards. For all current awards, go to AVSA.org. Click National Convention and then Awards. A full Awards List will appear in the January/February AVM. Specific Variety Awards for Minneapolis closed June 15, 2005. They are now being accepted for Denver. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 21 Georgene Albrecht 101 Oak Heights Drive Oakdale, PA 15071 Email georgena@verizon.net Streptocarpus ‘Guidelines’ is a hybrid of David Thompson, so named because the dark violet lines coming from the throat are all the way around, even on the top. This is a first as far as I know, so this is a real break-through, The flowers are huge, white, and very ruffled. There are five or more flowers to a peduncle. i David had entered about 30 Streps in the show, most new introductions. When they opened the show room, it was like Macy’s basement sale. Everyone wanted the salmon colored hybrid named 5. ‘Salmon Sunset’ which is a hybrid from S. ‘Texas Hot Chili’. This is one of Dale Marten’s hybrids, and she sure was there to see - the new beauties. I was lucky enough ^ to get the beautiful salmon variety as well as all I could carry, twice. Congratulations, David, you did a fine job. He also gave one of the best talks ever about growing Streps. We will share notes in a future column. Saintpaulia ‘Neon Fantasy’, from Lyndon Lyon’s 2004 winning introduction, is a must-have. The foliage is very dark green with an even, delicate thin white edge of white variegation. The bloom is electric blue-violet with red-violet random spots. GREAT CONVENTION The 2005 convention was fantastic. The Ohio state and Northery Kentucky members should be so proud of their work. The show plants were plentiful, almost 900 entries so well grown that they judging clerks ran out of blue ribbons The designs were equally well done. Dale Martin’s huge Kohleria ‘Monte’s Friendship’ was the best other gesneriad, I think. There was a fantastic Strep 22 African Violet Magazine equally beautiful on the court of honor table. I imagine it was hard to judge because of the high quality and amount of plants. GOOD NEWS My plants do not have INSV. At least, the ones sent to PSU and tested with kits I bought at convention. The culprit is pythium, a fungus-like dis¬ ease that causes root rot. As we said before, do not guess about INSV. Have it diagnosed by a lab or test it yourself. Read the test instructions several times before you do the test. Refrigerate the kits. The Open Forum at con¬ vention was just wonderful. Every one ‘ Guidelines’ of the commercials reinforced their commitment to give us the healthiest plants possible. They would toss any suspect plants, wanting always to keep the integrity of their reputation high. We had slides of the INSV infected plants shown by Pat Hancock who remembered the malady of Doris Palm in the 1990’s. Doris had INSV diagnosed in her African violets and took slides of the progressive symptoms. Thank you, Pat. Doris left us a legacy, and thanks to Pat’s good memory, she is helping us to grow better plants long after Doris passed away. Our commercials are so good, and their plants were just beautiful. Never hesitate to order plants or supplies from our commercials. They go to extraordinary lengths to give you the “cleanest” possible plants. Their business depends on their good reputation. membership Please consider giving a membership as a gift. The Africm Violet Magazine is a wonderful gift to a friend, student, libra# ovic garden center, or school. Compared to other plant society 2005 September • October 1 publications, AVM is a great “buy”. We must increase our membership right now. Even though I am a life member, I am going to get another membership to help out. I love giving a copy of AVM to friends. Want to make a great gift? Thke a nice basket and fill it with a beautiful plant, small bag of your favorite soil mix, fertilizer, and a copy of African Violet Magazine. Put a bow on the handle, and it’s a guaranteed hit. PAT’S AWARD At the convention, Pat Hancock was given the Bronze Medal. Her hybrids are just gorgeous, and she deserves every accolade we can bestow. Way to go! Dale Martens was also honored, as was John Cook for his continued serv¬ ice to this society. John has an amazing array of growing supplies. AVSA Member Advertising Rates (B&W) 1 in. $30,2 in. $50, 3 in. $70 1/4 page $95,1/2 page $175, full page $345 Get one ad free! when you pay for 5 in advance. Send your copy and payment to: Judith M. Carter, AVM Adv. Mgr. 1825 W. Lincoln St. Broken Arrow, OK 74012-8509 REJUVENATION OF AN OLDER PLANT by Marion Baker Do you have a plant with unhealthy looking or damaged outer leaves? Or one which has grown a neck and/or side shoots (suckers)? It is easy to give this plant a new lease of life by taking a crown cutting. Follow These Steps: 1. Prepare a 2 inch pot with a wick and potting mix, which is suitable for African violets. Label pot with name of plant and date. 2. Thke the plant out of its pot and remove the outer leaves until only four or five remain. 3. With a clean, small, sharp knife or razor blade, cut the main stem leaving about 1 1/2 inches. 4. Scrape the stem gently to remove leaf stubs and scar tis¬ sue. 5. Lightly brush some rooting powder on stem. As well as helping to promote root growth, this contains a fungicide to prevent rot 6. Make a hole in the potting mix with a pencil and place the plant in this. Carefully fill in around the stem with more potting mix. 7. Water with tepid water, that contains a few drops of plant hormone. 8. Drain well and place in a plastic bag. Leave the plant in the plastic bag until roots have formed. Then, open the bag and leave for a few days to allow plant to acclimate. 9. Thke the pot out of the bag and put onto wick watering container and care for in usual way. September • October 2005 Do you have a plant that has a “neck” but is otherwise healthy? It can be rejuvenated by using the following method. 1. Prepare a suitable sized pot with wick, potting mix, and label. 2. Ihke die plant out of the pot and remove unwanted outer leaves. 3. Scrape the leaf stubs from stem. Brush stem with rooting powder. New roots will grow from where leaf stubs have been removed. 4. Cut enough off the roots so that the plant can be potted down in the pot, with the neck no longer visible. 5. Place the plant in the pot and care for in the usual way. Do you have a plant with side shoots/suckers that you would like to propagate? These need to be a little more than a half inch in size to grow successfully. 1. Prepare a 2 inch pot. 2. Carefully remove the side shoot from the main plant with a clean, sharp implement. 3. Dust the stem with rooting powder 4. Place the plant in the pot-you may need to pin it down with something like a hairpin to keep it steady. 5. Enclose the pot in a plastic bag, leaving until roots have formed. Open the bag and leave for a few days to allow the plant to acclimate. From the Newsletter of the Early Mom AV Group, Australia African Violet Magazine 23 Preparing and Transporting to Show - Results by Marie Montague It’s been months since my article “Preparing and Transporting Violets to Show” was published in the May/June 2005 AVM, and I'd like to share what happened at my next show, the good and bad. A week before show, a list was prepared and all violets checked to make sure they were true to MVL list and had reg¬ istration #’s for Class 1 (AVSA Collection, registered varieties, standards) and Class 2 (AVSA Collection, registered varieties, semi-minis or minis.) I wasn't worried about Class 3 (Bay State Collection - three of one kind of standards, miniatures, etc.) because registration #'s are not required. My garage was filled with boxes of all sizes, and beer and soda trays for plants. Every time I went to my local market for milk, etc., I’d ask for trays. They never did quite compre¬ hend why I needed them, and I really became a pest to the clerks. The night before show, I realized that ‘Tomahawk’ needed a banana box, and time was wasted going to two local markets in search of one. At registration I decided to enter my Class 1 plants last. This was a big mistake. When I got to entry, ‘Tomahawk’, one of my Class 1 plants, had a broken leaf. I removed two rows and decided to send it through in Class 5 (where it received a blue.) I had to replace ‘Tomahawk’, and there was nothing left to draw on. At this point, it was time to concede that I didn’t have a Class 1 collection, but a very miserable ‘Ceremonial Dance’ was selected (it received a red). The worst thing was that I knew I had a very weak Class I collection the week before. I could have substituted Wrangler’s Dixie Celebration, but after trying to enter this plant without success for 10 years, this was dedicated to Vintage Class 2 was a success although the three plants selected, ‘Rob’s Antique Rose’, ‘Snuggles’, and ‘Rob’s Pewter Bells’ have been to show so often they can travel by themselves I was tempted to enter ‘Irish Flirt’ which I haven’t shown in a while, but this can be risky. The judges’ interpretation of ‘Irish Flirt’ is always different. One year you receive a blue and the next year a red showing exactly the same plant or what looks like the same plant to you. ’ Class 3 was a success, but not what I planned. One of the plants was misnamed when 1 came to registration I knew what it should have been, but when I checked MVL one mote time the night before, the description listed color as orchid When I looked at plant blossoms, they were pink. Are orchid and pink the same color? Sometimes the MVL list is confus mg since people see colors differently. Another problem that 1 had was despite hours of groom- kept aPP^g ™ the - clean but leaves. Before packing to show, the leaves i when opening the boxes at the show, there was more ver- miculite on the leaves. It seemed to be in the air around my plants. Thank heavens my brush was close at hand. I did not need to use tweezers, but small scissors were needed to remove spent blossoms on trailers. You can groom trailers every day, and for every ten blossoms that open, there seems to be ten blossoms to remove. It was a blessing that a good friend was at hand to check my trailers before entry. She was a highlight of the show for many growers because she was willing to spend hours looking at entry plants. She is one of the best growers in the Northeast who can identify the most popular plants correctly and has what the judges are looking for down to a science (by choice she is not a judge). An embarrassment to me is that I did receive three red ribbons without reason. These plants should not have been entered in the first place, but I wanted to make sure there were enough plants in the show. I say without reason because in the past I have entered plants that I knew were red ribbon plants for a purpose. In one case, an Episcia ‘Alfred Stark’ was entered in blooming gesneriads with one blossom. Someone very special gave me a stolon, and I wanted to show her that it was in bloom. Another year it was an ‘Ellie Gardner’ with insufficient bloom. As we know, this is a very difficult plant to grow, and after being on my stands for many, many years, it wanted to go to show. This year ‘Ellie’ was on the educational display. I took a chance with ‘Wrangler’s Dixie Celebration’, an older variety. I knew there was sufficient bloom for this vari¬ ety (I counted the blossoms the night before show), and, thankfully, there were experienced judges on the panel who agreed with me. Less experienced judges would have given it a red (I received two awards). Lesson learned: don’t enter inferior plants to increase show total; they will come back to bite you with red ribbons. The show proved successful in the end for me and, most importantly, for the public. Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, was the perfect place for the show. Due to the efforts, and more hours than I can imagine, of two dedicated club members, the theme of the show was earned through to perfection; the backdrops they prepared were truly My estimate of over 700 people who viewed the show might be low. I do know that hundreds came and viewed the plants, learned about growing, and purchased sale plants to try themselves. The air was “electric” with smiles of pure joy as people viewed the magnificent plants on display and for 24 African Violet Magazine September • October - Light & Dark by Betty Hazard Email: ELKHaz@aol.com Tticson African Violet Society We often hear about the importance of light to African violet plants. The impact of a fluorescent tube starting to fail can be seen in [either or both] of these two photographs: The plants are all from crowns taken and planted at the same time on November 24, 2004, from one parent plant labeled ‘Deer Path,’ a trailer. It probably is a trailer, but the blossom colors do not match the Master List description. (J. Gehr. Double ivory bell/blue fantasy. Dark green, plain. Semiminiature trailer) Taken “straighton.” Angled on the dark side; exaggerates the amount of light (or lack of it) African Violet Magazine 25 AFRICAN VIOLET CONSERVATION AND TOURISM IN TANGA REGION, TANZANIA Johanna Kolehmainen The Finnish Saintpaulia Society and the University of Helsinki johanna.kolehmainen@helsinki.fi Introduction African violets (Saintpaulia) grow as rare endemics (native to a certain region) in the biologically rich forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains and the lowland forest fragments of coastal Kenya and Tanzania. They thrive best in the deep shade of the forest on rock outcrops, often along rivers and streams. Many habitats have been lost due to the extensive fragmentation of the forest, and the African violet has become globally threatened. More extensive fragments of for¬ est remain in the East Usambara Mountains in Tanga Region, NE Tanzania. These forests are largely protected, and togeth¬ er with their buffer zones they form a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB). The coastal lowland forests in the Tanga Region, on the other hand, are extremely fragmented, and very few of them are protected. The Tanga Region is highly important in terms of African violet conservation. This is because several species and local¬ ities of the plant still exist there, and because it is a flagship for the conservation of the biodiversity of the entire East Usambara Biosphere Reserve. The flagship status is mainly attributable to the African violet’s world popularity as an ornamental plant, and as such, its important role attracting conservation initiatives and funds to the East Usambara. Saintpaulia and its co-flora and fauna also attract tourists to the area, and the wild African violet species are a genetic reservoir for the breeding of new commercial cultivars. Conservation of the African violet faces many challenges. Information on the distribution and population sizes of different species is largely outdated. There is also high morphological variation among populations, and some of the species are suspected to hybridize with other species, which makes species identification difficult. This makes it also difficult to define management units for conservation. Initiatives to integrate Saintpaulia with sustainable tourism to help develop the poor communities have also not yet been established. On this background, the Finnish Saintpaulia Society, in collaboration with the University of Helsinki Botanical Garden, launched a pilot project in 2003 with an overall goal to conserve the African violet species in the Thnga Region. The following specific objectives were set for the first project phase: (1) to map the distribution of Saintpaulia species, (2) to assess the suitability of the found localities for ecotourism, (3) to collect leaf samples for the analysis of the genetic vari¬ ation, (4) to draw local, national, and international attention on the conservation of the plant, (5) to assess its conserva¬ tion status in the area, and (6) to suggest further conserva¬ tion actions. Field work was targeted on four forest blocks in the East Usambara Mountains and on three lowland areas surrounding Thnga town. The international project team included members from Finland, Tanzania, Kenya, and Sweden (Fig.l). Methods Satellite imagery, maps, GPS, and local guides were used to locate Saintpaulia in the field. When a locality was found, a description of it was made including the physical features, vegetation, and the observed human impacts. Morphological variation in the species and the condition of the plants was examined. Suitability of the sites for ecotourism was assessed using special criteria that considered attributes such as acces¬ sibility, distance to visitor facilities, scenic value, and the presence of local spiritual activities. Furthermore, raising awareness was conducted at the local level about the impor¬ tance of the conservation of the African violet by meetings with village environmental committees. The villagers were educated about the human activities that threaten the plant and its ornamental use and popularity in the northern coun¬ tries. The idea of additional income generation from commu¬ nity based African violet tourism was also presented. The proj¬ ect has been publicized at national and international levels in articles, TV programs, and a few meetings and exhibitions. Results About sixty Saintpaulia localities, representing about ten species, were found. The majority were located in the forests of the East Usambara Mountains. The species included September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 27 dtfficilis , S. grotei, S. pendula , a proposed hybrid, S. cor\fusa x grotei , and a species which could not be identified to belong to any of the currently recognized species (Fig. 2). In the mountain forests, the plants were generally healthy and formed extensive and dense colonies (Fig. 3). Seedlings and juvenile plants were also commonly found. Morphological variation within species was observed in some places, especially in leaf shape, color, and hairiness (Fig. 4). Human impacts like fuel wood collecting, cutting, and occasional tree cutting were observed especially close on forest boundaries adjacent to human settlements Forest fires were also reported to be recurrent in places where forest borders with cultivations that are burnt regularly Moreover, invasion of the illegal gold miners poses a new September • October 2005 stream and river habitats as trees are being cut for building poles and firewood for mining camps. At least two Saintpaulia localities are known to have been badly damaged by miners, but in reality many more are probably affected. Ten of the found localities were situated in the lowlands (altitudes lower than 400 m a.s.l.). Populations of 5. diplotricha and S. ionantha were located along the Mkulumuzi River, S. tongwensis near Tongwe Hill, and the yet undescribed £ ‘Sigi Falls’ along the Zigi River. Seedlings and juvenile plants were uncommon in the lowland populations, which indicates weak sexual regeneration. Human activities have affected natural vegetation in the lowlands for a much longer time than in the mountains. Fires were reported to escape into the forest during the dry season, and other illegalities such as tree cutting are common. The remaining lowland forest fragments are also threatened by pole cutting, firewood collecting, charcoal burning, and the expansion of cultivations (Fig. 5). Moreover, grazing of domestic livestock damages vegetation and prevents re-growth of forest. Limestone quarrying is a specific threat for the lowland African violets because in many places they strate. The famous habitat of s. ionantha (Fig. 6) at the Amboni Caves, a few kilo¬ meters from Thnga town, is currently in a desperate condition. There are only a few trees to protea the remaining few hundred plants, and the Antiquities Department had recently even felled more trees from the caves’ entrance to make the caves more attractive for visitors. At the moment, the Amani Nature Reserve and its surroundings is the best place to see African violets in the 28 African Violet Magazine wild because of the existing visitor facilities and because there are several accessible localities comprising different species. There are remote sites in intact forest and sites bordering with village lands with beautiful views to neighboring hilltops and valleys (Fig. 7). A special destination for a Saintpaulia enthusiast is the Emau Hill Roman Catholic Centre near Amani village, which is being developed as a center for religious, educational, social, and tourism functions. In the Emau Hill, a visitor can take a walk in an idyllic river valley decorated by a population of Saintpaulia difficilis, enjoy refreshments at an open air cafe, and overnight in a tent on a big lawn. A rest house is also under construction. The best time to see well-blooming African violets in the mountains is in November and December. In the lowlands, the greatest potential for African violet safaris is in the Mkulumuzi River valley, where the Amboni Caves are located. The amount of knowledge that local people had about the African violet was highly variable. In some areas, people were not aware of Saintpaulia at all, whereas in other places many of the villagers were familiar with the plant. The locals did not know that the plant is propagated and sold as an ornamental plant in foreign countries. The idea of locally run African violet tourism was warmly welcomed and the villagers were eager to be involved if such project was initiated. Discussion Saintpaulia is not in specific danger in the East Usambara Mountains where the majority of the forest is under protection. In the mountains, there are plenty of suitable habitats; the genus is even locally abundant and seems to reproduce well. However, the populations located at forest margins are likely to be in danger due to decreased humidity and shade and exposure to anthropogenic disturbance on vegetation. Second, the effect of the gold rush on Saintpaulia is not known and the mining activity is reported to be continuing in 2005. In the lowlands, the genus is in extreme danger, and the remaining populations are likely to go extinct in the near future because most of the habitats are on public or private lands that are not protected. For conservation efforts to be successful, a multidis¬ ciplinary approach is needed. Both biological and socio- economical aspects need to be considered. Biological components include ecological and population genetic research to obtain the necessary knowledge for in situ (on the site) and ex situ conservation (botanical gardens, seed banks) of the species. Surveys of the distribution of the species need to be continued, especially in forests that are not yet protected, in order to obtain the current status of the species. Where possible, trees should be planted to protect the localities situated on forest margins. Assessment of the effects of the gold rush ought to be conducted and, if possible, habitats affected by mining should be restored and backup plant material collected to gene banks. The possibility of establishing ex situ conservation facilities in Tanzania should be studied. They would ideally consist of a seed bank and a living plant collection which could also serve as a visitor attraction. Perhaps the only viable way to save the wild African violets is to integrate biological conservation with sustainable utilization of the plant by tourism. This should be experimented in close collaboration with selected local communities. Special Saintpaulia trails would be built, and villagers would be trained in visitor services. This will be possible only through collaboration among local communities, scientists, responsible tour operators, government authorities, and other stakeholders working in the area. International support would ideally come from the horticulture industry and the African violet societies that base their activity on the utilization of these plants and who should thus feel proud to help safeguard their existence in the wild. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Rufford Foundation, the African Violet Society of America, the Swedish Saintpaulia Society, and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens for financial support, and the University of Helsinki Botanical Garden for administrative support. Staff of the Amani Nature Reserve and Thnga Catchment Forest Office, especially Mr. Raymond Killenga, Mr. Evarist Nashanda, and Mr. Johari Mtango helped much in the arrangements of the field work. Frank Mbago from the Botany Dept. University of Dar es Salaam, is also acknowledged for help in project preparations. I also wish to thank the project volunteers and all local guides for their contribution to field work. Also, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology is acknowledged for granting research permits for the foreign project volunteers. (All photo credits by the Finnish Saintpaulia Society) September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 29 30 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 140L “MULTIPLYING SAINTPAULIAS” (65 Slides) Basic program on African violet propagation including leaf cuttings, plant division, seed and grafting. Slides show how to produce and plant seeds. 147L “THE AFRICAN VIOLET PLANT” (77 Slides) A good, basic program 151L “THE SAINTPAULIA SPECIES” (79 Slides) A comprehensive, edu¬ cational, workshop-type program. Very thorough and somewhat technical. A depicted work by Neva Anderson. 161L “POINTERS IN JUDGING” (C) (74 Slides) A revised version of work¬ shop program for judges and exhibitors. Emphasis on grooming of plants in preparation for showing. 182L “TRAILERS - MAKING THEM DO WHAT I WANT THEM TO DO” (C) (70 Slides) (1997) Bev Promersberger demonstrates how she grows trailers that make the “Winners Circle”. 194L “DESIGNING FOR SHOW” (66 Slides) Program includes step-by- lovely examples of the different design types for exhibition. SECTION IV: GESNERIADS Listed below are programs identifying African violet cousins, their care, and propagation. 139L “MEET THE FAMILY” (C) (60 Slides) A vivid look at some of the other members of the gesneriad family, compiled and narrated by Margaret Waguespack. An informative program for those who want to broaden their growing horizons or for these who just want to “meet the family”. 178L “UNUSUAL GESNERIADS FOR THE LIGHT GARDEN” (C) (54 Slides) A group of the smaller gesneriads suitable for the light stand. 207 DL “A FIESTA OF VIOLETS” - 2004 DVD - Award winning exhibits from the 2004 AVSA Convention and Show in Tticson, AZ. 209 DL “VIOLETS REIGN IN THE QUEEN CITY," 2005 DVD of the AVSA Convention & Show in Cincinnati, OH. PACKETS 1. Packets are loaned for a period of one month, as available. 11 be filled 1 ‘ y FIRST, THIRD, OR FOURTH CLASS a be paid by check to AVSA at time of DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF PACKETS 155L JUST FOR FUN PACKET: “Violet Carol” Christmas skit in one act. A fun way to celebrate the holidays with a skit performed by your club members. This is an original skit written by Kent Stork of Kent’s Flowers, Fremont, NE, and donated to the AVSA Library. 156L NEWSLETTERyMAGAZINE PACKET: Anyone desiring to start a newsletter or magazine would find this packet helpful. 157L PROGRAM-PLANNING PACKET Suggestions to h a club’s activities. 158L SHOW SCHEDULES PACKET: 5 shows from different s ideas and those clubs planning their first show. 159L YEARBOOK COLLECTION PACKET: This packet contain yearbooks from var INSTALLATION PACKET: programs that will be found l collection of different ii SECTION V: VIOLET PESTS A s and their impact on African v 132L “AFRICAN VIOLET PESTS” (C) (52 Slides) A short, succinct program by Dr. Charles L. Cole with vivid illustration of common African violet pests. 152L “VIOLET TROUBLES” (63 Sides) Pests, diseases, and results of poor culture exhibited in the program. An oldie, but good base information. SECTION VI: SPECIAL PROGRAMS 187L “30TH AVSC CONVENTION - TORONTO 1997” Slides of the Canadian Show. (80 slides) 195L “AFRICAN VIOLET SOCIETY OF CANADA CONVENTION & SHOW, TORONTO, CANADA”, 1999 - (80 Slides) of beautiful photography highlight this show. 198L “AFRICAN VIOLET SOCIETY OF CANADA Convention & Show, Ottawa, 2001”, (87 Slides). VIDEOTAPES 173L “AFRICAN VIOLETS IN THE NEW GARDEN” Ken Froboese talks violets - a visit with Ken in his greenhouse, HI Country African Violets. 185L “GROWING BEAUTIFUL AFRICAN VIOLET TRAILERS” (28 minutes). Anna Jean Landgren demonstrates how she grows trailers. One of a series of presentations for TV by members of Illinois State AV 186L 188L 189L 196L : Ttacy Bruns in the basics of African violet growing. Particularly good for novice growers. “RAGS TO RICHES” - Another cable TV presentation in the series of House Plant How-tos. This is by Andrea Worell as she demonstrates how to groom or redo those African violets that need “help". “PROPAGATING YOUR T- “ " Worell, shows how she ! gesneriads. Another of the House Plant How-ti new slant on an old idea. Very entertaining. “BASIC AFRICAN VIOLET CARE” - 25 minute video by Don Geiss is a good introduction to growing African Violets. RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR USE OF AVSA LIBRARY MATERIALS REQUEST FOR MATERIALS Send requests to the AVSA Office, 2375 North St, Beaumont, Texas 77702. If you do not have an AVSA order form, please include in your request (1) Name of affiliate, (2) Name of person ordering and person’s or packet, (5) Whether or not cassette (where available) is desired, (6) Date to be shown. Order forms are included in shipment for future use. SLIDE PROGRAMS - VIDEO TAPES 1. Make request for reservation three (3) months in advance of date reservation date. are shipped using a special shipping to return the programs to the AVSA reserved date. Return by UPS or First Class Mail only. For First Class, we request that you insure the program for $50.00. If you use UPS, the package is automatically insured for $100.00. For members in other countries: please return programs postpaid by the safest and most expeditious postal means available. A $5.00 PER WEEK PENALTY WILL BE ASSESSED FOR ANY PRO¬ GRAM NOT POSTMARKED WITHIN FOUR (4) DAYS AFTER SCHED¬ ULED RESERVED DATE, UNLESS OTHER ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE. Return programs to: AVSA OFFICE 2375 NORTH STREET • BEAUMONT, TEXAS 77702 3. Special requests for two or more slide programs for the same date may be made and will be filled when possible, but such requests are not encouraged because of the great demand for slide programs and the limited number available. 4. The cost of slide program with cassette is $ 10.00, and the cost of a slide program without cassette is $8.00. Only those slide programs in the descriptive list with a “(C)” after the titles have cassettes. Those programs may be reserved with or without the cassettes. Cost of video and DVD programs are $10.00. African Violet Magazine 31 Optimara EverPraise Exhibited by: Tony Hulleman Hybridized by: Holtkamp Large 32 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Kandy Kitchen Exhibited. & Hybridized by: Kent Stork Large Standard September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 33 MAKING CHEMICAL DECISIONS WITH MSDS by Dr. Thmmy L. Turner When I began growing African violets, I knew nothing of the pests and diseases that can plague them. A more experi¬ enced grower once said to me, “It’s not a matter of £ you will ever encounter pests/diseases, it’s always a matter of when you will encounter them. If you grow violets long enough, you WELL have to deal with these things." She was correct. In the years I have been growing, I have encountered cyclamen mites, foliar and soil mealy bugs, thrips, and powdery mildew. When these problems occur, the grower has a couple of choices. One choice is to toss the plants and start over, depend¬ ing on the severity of the situation and the problem that has manifested. The other choice is to select a course of treatment and try to save the collection. Either is viable, and only the individual grower can determine what their collection is worth to them and what they are willing to spend in terms of money and time in order to save it Typically, I have chosen to treat problems. My primary concerns have been finding the most effective treatment and knowing as much as I can about the chemical (s) used for treat¬ ment. Toxicity levels of chemicals should be a concern for any¬ one who uses them. Unfortunately, there seem to be those on “both sides of the fence” in regard to chemicals. Some seem to pay little attention to labels and do not take proper precautions, while others are terrified to use a chemical in their home to treat their plants. Some fear the use of any chemical treatment because they have children or pets living in their house, or they simply are concerned about the effects of the chemicals on their own health. I always have advocated information as the starting point for these types of decisions. It’s best to have the information and understand it before making a decision. I have found that relatively few people know how to go about obtaining such information or how to decipher it if obtained. I am not advo¬ cating or discouraging the use of chemicals. I simply wish to share some information that I hope will be helpful to anyone in a situation where they must make a choice concerning the use of chemicals. Chemical manufacturers provide something known as a Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for chemicals they produce. Numerous MSDS sheets are available online. My advice is to secure a MSDS for any chemical you are contem¬ plating for use on your plants. Toxicity levels, both oral (ingest¬ ed) and dermal (skin contact), are listed on the sheets. LD50 numbers are a means of rating toxicity levels. You may be thinking, “I’m not a chemist, so how will I ever know what these numbers mean and how to use them in assessing what I consider to be safe or unsafe for my family?” I have included some information I found in Melvin Robey’s book, African Violets: Gifts from Nature to help explain. The chart clearly out¬ lines toxicity levels based on both oral and dermal LD50 ratings. LD50 RATING CLASSIFICATION ORAL DERMAL Probable lethal oral dose of Highly Toxic Moderately Toxic Low Toxicity Relatively free from danger* *NO pesticide is ever 100 % s, 50 or less 51 to 500 501 to 5,001 5,001 or greater 0 to 200 201 to 2,000 2,001 to 20,000 _ 20,001 or greater pesticide, for an adult, consumed directly from the container a “pinch” to 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons 1 ounce to 1 pint (1 pound 1 pint to 1 Quart (2 pounds! Here is a sampling of LD50 ratings from various chemicals used to treat pests/diseases in African violets AVID (miticide) Oral LD50 - 300 (moderate toxicity) Dermal LD50 - 1,800 (moderate toxicity) Marathon (insecticide) Oral LD50 - greater than 4820 (very low toxicity) Dermal LD50 - greater than 2,000 (low toxicity) Malathion (insecticide) Oral LD50 - 1,300 (low toxicity) Dermal LD50 - 4,500 (low toxicity) Pyrethrins (insecticide) ORAL LD 50 - 1,500 (low toxicity) Dermal LD50 - 1,800 (moderate toxicity) Di-Syston (insecticide) ORAL LD50 - 6-12 (high toxicity) Dermal LD50 - 10 (high toxicity) 34 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Typically, pesticide labeling is based on the chemical’s acute oral LD50 rating. Class I pesticides have an oral LD50 rating of up to 50 and have “Danger" on the label. Class n pesticides have an oral LD50 rating from 51 to 500 and will bear labels reading “Warning”. Class HI pesticides have an oral LD50 rating of 501 to 5,000. Class IV pesticides have an oral LD50 rating of over 5,001. MSDS sheets also contain infor¬ mation concerning what action to take if a chemical is ingest¬ ed, has come in contact with the skin, or has been inhaled. The use of chemicals to treat a pest or disease is an impor¬ tant decision. I recommend considering these situations before they occur so that you will have a plan for how you will deal with them when they occur. I found an excellent website organized by manufacturer name that contains a multitude of MSDS sheets. You will need to know the manufacturer of the chemical you are using/considering to use this page, but such information is easily obtainable via the internet. The website address is: http://www.cdms.net/manuf/manuf.asp7tea Armed with this information, you can make an informed deci¬ sion that is best for both your family and your African violets. Petrocosmea by Bob Clark One of the most advancing Gesneriads grown in the home is Petrocosmea Jlaccida (note the spelling). It is the most common¬ ly grown species of this fibrous rooted shade-loving genus from the cool limey rock mountains of southern China. Petrocosmeas all grow in rosette form, and most grow in very symmetrical rosettes of perfectly overlapping leaves. Indeed, some have foliage so dense that flower spikes have a difficult time ting through the Petrocosmea flaccida lavender flowers that resemble some of Jimmy Dates’ wasp flow¬ ered African violets. Although they do not flower as long or as often as African violets, petro¬ cosmeas can put up several peduncles of bloom several times a year. However, most of the time, they have a seasonal flush of bloom in the spring with the lengthening daylight hours. Even when these plants are not in bloom, they are a lovely plant to regard, with their often hairy, fuzzy symmetrical form. Petrocosmeas enjoy cooler conditions than most African vio¬ lets, and I grow mine in a north-facing window with my Streptocarpus, another cool loving Gesneriad. They have a VERY shallow root system and should never be potted in a standard sized pot since there would be much too much water retained in the soil, promoting root fungal infections and rot. I use a light mix with plenty of perlite and add generous amounts of Dolomite lime pellets. Let them dry out slightly between watering. They don’t want to sit in water, just like African violets and other Gesneriads. These plants also show up in many African violet and Gesneriad shows in classes for plants grown for ornamental foliage. The hairy or shiny foliage in perfect rosettes certainly do earn them ribbons in this part of the show. They are simply lovely, and one of my favorites. Other species of Petrocosmea commonly grown are: • Petrocosmea barbata (with white flowers). • Petrocosmea begoniifolia ; whose foliage is very tex¬ tured and quilted. • Petrocosmea formosa-, with large lavender flowers. • Petrocosmeaforrestiv, with hairy foliage. • Petrocosmea kerrii; the largest growing species, also with white flowers. • Petrocosmea minor, shiny, hairless bright green foliage, it almost looks like a Sedum. • Petrocosmea nervosa ; similar in form to P. flaccida, but with flatter growing foliage. • Petrocosmea parryorum-, heart shaped leaves with many multi-branching flower spikes. • Petrocosmea ‘Momo’; this is the only known hybrid between P. nervosa and P. Jlaccida. This is a relatively new genus, having been discovered in 1880, and not being widely distributed in the United States until late in the 1950’s. The name Petrocosmea is based on the two Greek words for “Rock” and “Pretty.” I hope you are able to obtain one of these “pretty rock” plants and enjoy them! September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 35 Stephanie Croteau Exhibited by: Robin Cotton Hybridized by: D. Croteau Standard Streptocarpus ‘Guidelines’ Exhibited & Hybridized by: David Thompson 36 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Photo Credit: Winston J. Goretsky September • October 2005 Botanika Exhibited, by: Dale Martens African Violet Magazine 37 iJk /ria/l S7a/ft Laurel D. Goretsky 32 Scimitar Point N.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3L 2B2 Email: Laurel@Goretsky.ca The commercial area of the 2005 AVSA National Show, like the amateur horticulture area, was wonderful to behold. I am always so impressed with the commercial display tables. I find it difficult some years to find two or three decent show plants. The commercial entries for the display tables must contain 15 plants with three, all of the same type - miniatures, semiminiatures or mini and semi mini trailers, counting as one unit (taken from the rules and regulations from the 2005 show schedule). What this means is that if you are putting together a commercial display with any minis or semi minis, you need 45 plants. Other gesneriads are per¬ mitted, but 75% of the display table must be made up of African violets. These rules apply to miniature and semi- miniature varieties only. The commercial display tables using standard plants have different criteria. What a tremendous effort this must be for the commercial growers who choose to enter a display table with minis or semiminis! Your effort is appreciated. Dr. Ralph Robinson had a good showing in the commer¬ cial division again this year. He won 2nd best in African vio¬ let with ‘Rob's Calypso Beat’. This semiminiature plant has a beautiful semidouble bright pink blossom with blue fantasy markings against medium-dark green colored leaves. Dr. Robinson has had success with this variety in past shows Last year, he received the best African violet in show (com¬ mercial) with a ‘Rob's Calypso Beat’. This year. Dr. Robinson also won the best AVSA collection (mini/semimini). The semiminiature plants in this collection were ‘Rob’s Calypso Beat’, ‘Rob’s Hand Puppet’, and ‘Rob’s Boogie Woogie’. ‘Rob’s Hand Puppet’ is a stunning chimera with a pink stick- tite pansy/medium blue stripe blossom on dark green leaves ‘Rob’s Boogie Woogie’, another show favorite, has semidou¬ ble medium shell pink pansy blossoms against green and tan- beige crown variegation. fried and true varieties stood out at this year’s conven¬ tion m both the amateur and commercial horticulture divi sions. I enjoyed seeing the mix in the types of plants chosen 38 African Violet Magazine to show. It is important to keep good-growing varieties around regardless of whether they were introduced recendy or many years ago. One highlight in the area of “newer” varieties was ‘Cupid’s Jewel’. This plant won Best New Cultivar, Semiminiature African violet for Paul Sorano of Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses. ‘Cupid’s Jewel’ is a gem of a plant with semidouble and double pale plum stars with darker plum in the eye of the blossom on medium green, serrated foliage. This is a plant that is sure to be one to watch for at future conventions. As I mentioned last time, I was able to acquire the three plants on my wish list and many more varieties. When the showroom doors open to us, I often take my time going through and choosing plants that I would like to purchase. Then, when the salesroom is open, I take my list and try to find either a plant or a leaf to purchase. One plant that I was eager to acquire after seeing it in the showroom was ‘Rob’s Magnetic Field’. This plant grabbed my attention with its chimera blossom (pink with a dark blue stripe) and the dark green girl foliage makes this plant especially striking. I was thrilled to find it to add to my collection. Three other plants that I brought home are new varieties (all semiminiatures) from Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses. First, ‘High Jinks’ has a lovely blossom that is a semi-double light lavender/pink with blue fantasy streaks. The foliage is medium green. ‘Strawberry Parfait’ has a coral-pink, single and semidouble pansy blossom with darker pink veining. The leaves are tai¬ lored and dark green. Also, ‘Velvet Gem’ has a dark burgundy double pansy blossom with fantasy streaks. I am eager to see how the above varieties will grow in my conditions. Two hybridizers that had miniature and semiminiatures featured in the 2005 show are George McDonald and Shirley Sanders. George McDonald’s plants had the prefix of ‘Mac s, ,and one new introduction that comes to mind is ‘Mac’s Black Jack’. Shirley Sanders from Shirley’s House of Violets had a few plants to watch for as well, such as ‘Shirl’s Firecracker’, September • October 2005 ‘Shirks Touch o’ Pink’, and ‘Shirks Grape Ice’. One thing I definitely remember about the new introduc¬ tions is that the plants looked great and are varieties that I will be eager to purchase. Each convention has something new and wonderful to offer. I am already anticipating the 2006 convention in Minnesota. To all the hybridizers out there, keep the miniatures and semiminiatures coming! Summer has gone by quickly, and some of us are getting back into our normal routines. I enjoy the summer but also look forward to our club meetings again and being back into a regular care schedule for my plants. My thoughts are turning to possible show plants in my collection and what I need to pot up or repot. I will also re-evaluate which plants need to go to a new home and which I will keep. I may take a plant or two to a senior’s res¬ idence or get involved with a school and show a group of stu¬ dents how an African violet can be started from a leaf. It is fun to share our passion for African violet growing and in the process, maybe gain some new friends. Have a wonderful fall season! To read the AVSA Convention '“Chatter'', go to AVSA.org, click on the National Convention tab, then on '“Report on the 2005 AVSA Convention" September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 39 “Adventure in King's Island” Exhibited, by.- Janey Reddell 40 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 A Good Member Bev Promersberger - Affiliate Committee 7992 Otis Way Pensacola, FL 32506 Email: Promers22@hotmail.com A violet dislikes the “flood and drought” syndrome. The tiny roots of the African violet do not like to be flooded with water, completely dried out, and flooded again. They prefer constant light moisture. Clubs can easily be compared to the same syndrome. They need “good” members to thrive and prosper. They need members who do not come and go, who are not present sometimes and absent more often, who work together to do the jobs that need to be done. The following are the bee’s of being a good club member, of making a club grow. Bee dedicated. Support the principles and purposes of the club and AVSA. Support what is best for the club, not your own personal interests or agenda. Bee a member of AVSA. The magazine that you receive as a member of AVSA has a wealth of information about growing and showing. It is a necessary compliment to affiliate programs and activities if you really want to learn how to grow African violets. Bee knowledgeable. Read and stay up-to-date on the bylaws and the standing rules presented by your dub. Bee open minded. Once you have expressed your views, be open to others’ ideas and opinions. Accept the desires of the majority of the club. Be willing to accept changes that are better for the club. Bee a grower. Have a strong desire to grow beautiful and healthy African violets and/or other gesneriads. Strive to improve cultural practices and eliminate problems. Bee caring. In other words, be tactful, considerate, and thoughtful of others and their opinions. Bee an encourager. Encourage others to grow, to become club members, and to enjoy the hobby. Greet new guests and visitors. Be friendly, interested, and helpful to guests, visitors, and new members and let them see a “friend”. Showing that you care makes visitors feel wanted, and sharing what you know makes them feel that being a member will help them accomplish what they came for - to become better growers. Bee on time. Set an example to be prompt and ready for the meeting to begin at the scheduled time. When members are not present, the president hesitates to begin the meeting. Eventually, members plan on arriving late because they know that the meeting will begin late. It’s a vicious circle that cannot be encouraging to new members. No one likes to waste their precious time waiting for others. Long-time mem¬ bers love to use the beginning time to chat with friends, but not everyone has the time or desire to wait. Bee a participant Grow to sell and/or show so that you understand the hobby. Participate in the club sales by work¬ ing and/or by contributing plants for the sale. Bee regular in attendance. In other words, attend the meetings and club activities regularly. We all have other obli¬ gations: family, work, etc. Sometimes they interfere. Make sure that the meetings, shows, and sales are marked on your calendar so that, if possible, other responsibilities can be scheduled at alternate times. If you don’t mark it, you will most likely foiget it. Bee informed. When you can’t attend a meeting for some reason, be sure to find out what you missed. Check to see if there is any upcoming event that needs your help, if you are to bring something or do something at the next meet¬ ing. Often, clubs have annual yearbooks that list what the agenda is for each meeting. Look it over before each meeting to make sure that you have not forgotten something. 1b be continued ... I want to thank everyone that attended the Affiliate meeting at the Ohio convention. I hope you had fun with our presentation and will try it with your own club. I hope you gained some new ideas for publicity and will take the oppor¬ tunity to use them. These ideas will all be shared in a column at a future date. Remember to send the name of your new president and address to the AVSA Office for the listing to be posted on the website. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 41 Wasps and Bustles, The “Newest” Fashion in African Violets by Nancy Robitaille Montreal North, QC, Canada Wasps and bustles? Have we fallen through a time tun¬ nel and landed in Victorian times? Can’t you just see the parade of ladies with wasp waists in beautiful long dresses with frilly bustles in back? No, we’re actually speaking of wasp flowers and bustled foliage, and we’re right back here in our own time in our African violet world. Whatever is a wasp flower? Jimmy Dates discovered this type of blossom way back in 1957 so we can’t claim it is the “newest" fad in African violets. Matter of fact is that we don’t even see wasp flowers and bustled leaves very often in our shows. Just what is this phenomenon? Dates described the wasp flower in this way: “The upper two petals are thread-like and fluted up and backward. The lower petals are deeply cut, reminiscent of individual petals.” Dr. Jeff Smith mentions that, “in the dozen or so wasp plants that I’ve seen in bloom, I believe the petals are usually dis¬ connected, especially when compared to non-wasp flowers." Una M. of Washington State, grower of over thirty vari¬ eties of wasp plants and moderator of the Loveforwasp Forum on Yahoo Groups remarks: “I have found a wasp blos¬ som actually comes in a variety of shapes. Some are very deeply cut star type blossoms; others are fluted or a combi¬ nation. There is not just one type of wasp blossom. I do pre¬ fer the Dates type.” (Editor’s Note: Be sure to read “The Wonderful World of Wasps” by Una Moreno, page 41, July/ August 2002 AVM) This photo of blossoms of Pink Wasp clearly shows the fluted upper petals and deeply cut lower petals of the wasp bloom type. Photo by Tina M., Moderator of the Loveforwasp group. Photos reproduced with permission of Loveforwasp members. 42 African Violet Magazine When asked about wasp blossoms, Dr. Jeff Smith said, “I’ve seen quite a bit of variety in the shape of (wasp) flow¬ ers. Some of the flowers on ‘Celery’, for example, are often rolled into tubes and look like little trumpets. When wasp is combined with star shaped flowers, such as in ‘Lunar Lily,’ you get five highly rolled petals that look like tubes radiating from a common point. If you see a picture of a double flow¬ ered wasp... the center petals (are) a tuft on top and the five outer (ones are) wasp petals. All of these are variations of the basic wasp bloom.” What forms of plants have wasp flowers? You have a large choice of standards, compact standards, miniatures, semiminiatures, and trailers. Flower colors offered with these plants mns the gamut. Look for white, plenty of blues and purples, pinks, white or green edged, fantasy - there’s even a chimera. Wasp flowers usually, but not always, have bustled foliage. There are wasps without bustles, but no bustled Mage has been noted without wasp flowers. Now what is bustled foliage? Bustled foliage has compound leaves with two leaflets attached at the base of the blade on the back side. These wasp plants are a bit unmly and should be judged in shows accordingly and not for perfect symmetry as other African violets are judged. Not all wasp plants are suited for showing, but, in fact, could very well be shown in the edu¬ cational exhibit. Judges should also be aware of mottling or birth marking of foliage on the underside. What are the red splotches on the backs of some foliage? Dr. Jeff Smith: “ Some (wasp) plants have the dominant gene to make a red pigment on the back of leaves. The amount of red pigment is controlled by the light intensity. In lower light levels (such as caused by overlapping foliage), the red backing will be more like spots. In more open bright light, the red backing should cover the entire leaf. These plants can mutate and produce blotched leaves with variable amounts of red backing. This is sometimes called ‘birth spots.’ In these cases, the entire plant is genetically unstable and variation can occur between the various leaves and in the flower so that none of the leaves are exactly alike. Birth spots are eas¬ iest to detect when a plant with solid red backed leaves starts to produce blotched leaves and the blotching is independent of the amount of light. If the amount of red backing varies according to the light, then the plant has only one dose of the red backed leaf trait and is showing incomplete expression of the trait.” Why has there been no other mutant bloom other than September • October 2005 wasp? Do you consider green edges, for example, as a mutant? Dr. Jeff Smith: “Technically, anything besides single pansy blues are mutant flowers. Star shaped flowers would be another bloom shape mutant similar to wasp flowers. Double flowers are mutations as are all of the other colors and edge markings.” The petals of the deep blue blooms of Royal Wasp also demonstrate the characteristics that distinguish the wasp type. Photo by Tina M., Loveforwasp. History of Wasps and Bustles In 1957, Jimmy Dates obtained a plant called ‘Bustles’ from a Mrs. Hotchkiss in Peoria, Illinois. This was a sport of ‘Purple Prince’. Flowers were purple and foliage showed compound or bustled leaves. The petals were fluted and thread-like. Jimmy Dates first registered the new introduction, ‘Pink Wasp’, in 1964. Jimmy Dates produced 60 varieties of African violets, 15 of which are registered. Of the 60 varieties, 38 are wasps and/or bustled foliage. Culture of Wasp African Violets The culture of plants with wasp flowers and/or bustled foliage is the same as for any other African violet. Some growers prefer to use a lighter soil mix and to use higher humidity for these plants. They say the extra humidity helps keep down the suckering and may help the foliage behave. Light conditions are the same as for every other violet Wasps may be grown in natural light or under artificial fluorescent bulbs. Depending on the leaf, a few wasps may take longer to produce babies, and some plants are slow growers. Hybridizers of Wasps and/or Bustled Foliage Gesneriad seed, like begonia seed, is rounded if fertile and will roll, while sterile seed have a flat side which inhibits rolling. So once a pod is dried and opened over a piece of fold¬ ed white paper seeds fell out Tilt the paper slightly and fer¬ tile seed will roll to the fold. Then this can be emptied into a seed container for propagation. This photo of Seedling wtl a white blossomed plant, shows the reverse of a bustled leaf. Can you make out the small bustles (arrows) at the base of the leaf? Photo by David, Loveforwasp. Another distinguishing value of seed is the color. Black seed are usually fertile, and brown are sterile. Some hybridiz¬ ers of wasp and/or bustled foliage are: Lyndon Lyon, Fay Wagman, S. Lang, A. Stephens, Domiano/Nadeau, Rader, C. Carter, Holtkamp and, of course, Jimmy Dates. A group inter¬ ested in keeping these plants from future extinction are busy hybridizing as well. This group meets regularly via the Internet and holds active trade of notes, data, conquests, and failures as well as a leaf exchanges on a group site called Love for Wasp. This may be accessed by going to Yahoo Groups and searching for Love for Wasp or go to: http://groups.vahoo.com/group/loveforwasp/ . (Editor’s Note: You will have to register for Yahoo Groups to access this site if you are not already a member of Yahoo Groups. As Love for Wasp is ‘Members Only’, you will also have to apply for membership in Loveforwasp to go beyond the home page.) One hybridizer on the Loveforwasp forum shares these thoughts with other hybridizers and growers of wasps. David in California: “If I’m looking at the foliage. I’ll only grow them when I can see if the leaves are going to have the traits I’m looking for - you can see this pretty early on in most cases. When it’s the blooms that I’m looking for, I grow all of them I possibly can (You never know which one is going to be THE one). I discovered quite by accident that growing the seedlings in a covered container slows and stunts their growth. (This also works well if you want to grow other vio¬ lets smaller than their normal size.) I’ve got about 200 babies from a single ‘yellow’ cross that are in various stages of development. Some have already bloomed; others are still tiny and in the community tray. The hardest thing for me is ruthlessly culling the ones that don't meet my hybridizing objective - almost all of them are interesting or pretty in one way or another, and it’s just tough to throw any of them away .... limited shelf space to the rescue...” From Chatter, publication of the AVS of Canada September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 43 Violet Club Records Management Janet Riemer, AVSA Archivist Is your violet club overwhelmed with “stuff?” Does the group have papers and memorabilia so scattered among mem¬ bers that no one knows what is where? Do you wonder what should be kept and what can be discarded? Here are some tips that might help. Records: The bylaws adopted by a group and the minutes of meet¬ ings are the primary records of an organization. Usually, they are kept by the secretary who may be asked to refer to them to clarify what was decided upon at a specified time. For easy access, the minutes are usually arranged in chronological order. Since they illustrate the development of an organization, they are of historical importance and are very helpful to anyone writing a history of the group. The treasurer’s reports are important financial records, usu¬ ally kept by the treasurer and again, in chronological order. These too may have historical importance as they show the financial health of the organization. For tax purposes, some records such as bank statements, checks, and receipts need to be kept for five to seven years and can then be discarded. There is no need to keep postage receipts and telephone bills from 25 years ago! Important documents should be photocopied on to archival paper and stored in a location other than that of the originals. The purpose of this is to tty to assure preservation in case of a disaster to one of the locations. If documents exist only on a computer, a back-up should always be made to avoid acciden¬ tal loss. Publications: Materials that are compiled for distribution to all members for their information and/or education, may be considered pub¬ lications. An example is an annual yearbook which may include the programs planned for the year and a list of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all the members. For many years, AVSA included a display of affiliate yearbooks at the convention show. They were judged and ribbons were awarded to the best. This was discontinued several years ago when the ability of some affiliates to use computer assistance made judging less relevant. Whether you call this information a yearbook or not, these annual listings should be kept as they document the activities of the group and identify the members over time. If your group has a historian or an archivist, he/she is the person who would logically be responsible for these items. Some violet groups, particularly regional societies and councils, also distribute newsletters which are compiled on a more or less regular schedule. These serve as program announcements, report on show results, and often include arti¬ cles of helpful tips for growing African violets. They too should be kept by a historian or archivist. Many clubs publicize their shows and exhibits in the local newspaper. Clippings are then frequently kept in scrapbooks. Unfortunately, the paper on which newspapers are printed is notoriously short-lived. The lignin in wood pulp, a major ingre¬ dient in newsprint, darkens in sunlight in a matter of hours, and the inherent acidity of the paper causes rapid deterioration. The best way to preserve the information in a newspaper clip¬ ping is to photocopy the article of interest on to archival paper and discard the original. If the original is retained, it will stain whatever is adjacent to it as it ages. Show Memorabilia: Those clubs that stage a show and/or exhibit each year usually have a show schedule or program which informs the public of the theme, classes of exhibits, and rules. These are often kept and may be displayed on anniversaries or other spe¬ cial events. Sometimes the schedules are mounted in a scrap- book. If this is done, be sure to use a scrapbook with archival pages such as those sold for scrapbooking. The old-fashioned kind of scrapbook has pages that contain acid which will dark¬ en and become brittle with age and so should be avoided. Hinge the items so that the back pages can be read. Do not use rubber cement as that deteriorates quickly, loses its adhesive¬ ness, and permanently stains the mounted items. Also avoid pressure sensitive tape such as magic tape as that too causes stains. The safest means of attachment are inert plastic photo¬ graph comers. Scrapbooks are very difficult to keep in good condition for long periods of time. Filing items in acid-free file folders and an archival box provides greater longevity. Photographs: Black and white and color prints are often used to record the activities of a club, winning plants and their exhibitors, and designs and their creators. Prints, like schedules, are often placed in albums. If so, be sure that the plastic pockets of the album are chemically inert. The plastic should be polypropy¬ lene or polyester, not polyvinyl chloride. The latter, in a humid environment, breaks down and combines with the moisture in the air to form hydrochloric acid which deteriorates the images. Be sure to avoid those so-called “magnetic” albums. These have pages with thin lines of adhesive covered with a sheet of plastic that is peeled back to insert the photographs. The adhe- sive can be very harmful as it is absorbed by the photograph back and permanently adheres the photograph to the page. The photographs cannot be safely removed, the adhesive dis¬ colors, and the photographs are mined. 44 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Many clubs have collections of 35mm color slides. These are frequently used for programs. Rather than keeping them in the boxes in which they were returned from processing where they have to be handled individually to be viewed, it is wise to individually label them and place them in the pockets of polyester or polypropylene pages specifically designed for slides. There they are protected from finger prints and viewing is simplified. Photographs, both film based and digital, may also be kept loose, but if so, polyester or polypropylene sleeves help to pro¬ vide needed protection while still maintaining visibility. Be sure to identify all photographs with names of people shown, date, and event. This identification can be adjacent to a mounted image or on the back of the photograph. Write with a soft pen¬ cil or an ultra-fine “Sharpie” at the top or the bottom of the photograph back, not across the middle where it might bleed through to the face. Avoid using a ball point pen as the inden¬ tations from the pen will deface the image. The preservation of all of the records mentioned above is greatly influenced by the environment in which the records are stored. If they are kept in an air-conditioned living area, they will last far longer than if they are kept in an attic where the temperature fluctuates greatly or in a basement where the rel¬ ative humidity is often high. High temperatures cause paper to become brittle, and dampness causes mold and mildew, 'fry to aim for a temperature around 70° F. and a relative humidity of around 50%. light can be detrimental, especially to color pho¬ tographs which should be stored in a cool, dark, dry location. Whatever is in intimate contact with a document, publication, or photograph may preserve or destroy it. File folders with an alkaline reserve and archival boxes can make a huge difference in longevity. Summary: Some records need to be kept for legal reasons (such as a contract), others for financial reasons. Some may be kept just for the enjoyment and education of the members. Whatever is kept should be organized so that an item can be found, if need¬ ed. An inventory is useful for that purpose. Such a list is called a finding aid by archivists. Often summaries can be compiled to replace bulky papers (such as show entry information), and annual reports may adequately substitute for huge packets of monthly data. Making available and preserving the records of a violet club can be very rewarding to the person who performs those tasks and to all the club members as they learn to appreciate their group’s history. If the AVSA archivist can be of further assistance, send an e-mail message to j_riemer@comcast.net. Below are some sources of archival storage materials. Conservation Resources International, Inc. 8000-H Forbes Place Springfield, VA 22151 800-634-6932 www.conservationresources.com Gaylord Brothers Box 4901 Syracuse, NY 13221-4901 800-448-6160 www.Gaylord.com University Products, Inc. P.O. Box 101 Holyoke, MA 01041-0101 800-336-4847 www.universityproducts.com Light Impressions (photographic supplies) P.O. Box 787 Brea, CA 92822-0787 800-828-6216 www.lightimpressionsdirect.com Stillwater: The Birthplace of Minnesota by Ruth Nestled among the bluffs of the beautiful St Croix River and located just 20 miles east of St. Paul is the city called Stillwater. More than a hundred years of rich history has placed Stillwater on the National Registry of Historic Places. One of Stillwater’s Historic Tours is a Trolley Tour that will be available to members of AVSA in the 2006 Minneapolis Convention. The narrated tour runs daily beginning at 10:00 am. It cruises down hills and narrow streets in a “roller coaster” ride as it travels through Stillwater providing a view of church¬ es and many homes built in the 1800’s. The web site of the Mey Tours is www.stfilwatertrollev.com/tours/narr tour s.html Stillwater was the site of the State’s Territorial Convention Bann and remained a thriving logging town into the 1800’s. It is the oldest town in Minnesota. The older part of Stillwater is found along Main Street. Here you will find the Antique Shops, Taverns, Office Buildings, and Restaurants that were once a rooming house, or a railroad building, or a saloon, or a brew¬ ery or a theater. Be sure to look at the old lift bridge over the St Croix River. Can you just imagine what it must be like in rush hour traffic? It is still used today, but it will soon become a thing of the past as a new bridge is in the plans to be built a short way down river. Make time to enjoy the Minneapolis Convention and a trip to Stillwater. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 45 ZA, nif the foutne/ss a/ € e ... Mary J. Corondan 7205 Dillon Court Plano, TX 75024 AVC OF BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Harbor Blue, Phantom Flash, Lela Marie; Best Species: Saintpaulia ionantha-, Best Design; Horticulture Sweepstakes; Design Sweepstakes, Susan Arnao. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Coral Kiss, Fredette’s Moonflower, Ma’s Debutante; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Boo Man, Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Cupid’s Kiss; Best in Show/Best Trailer: Rob’s Galiwinku; Best Semiminiature: Cupid’s Kiss; Best Gesneriad: Chirita ‘Kazu’, Sandy Skalski. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Pride of Columbus, Irish Flirt, Ness’ Cranberry Swirl; Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet, Florence Murphy. Best Standard: Victorian Parasol, Laurel Brown. AVC OF MORRIS COUNTY, PA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Ness’ Snow Clouds, Optimara Tadition, Ness’ Candy Pink; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Cool Blue, Ness’ Sno Fun, Rebel’s Meg; Best in Show/Best Ttailer: Champagne Pink; Best Standard: Apache Thunderbolt; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Bob Kurzynski. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia grandi- Jolia, Saintpaulia orbicularis, Saintpaulia rupicola , Judy Padalino. Best Semiminiature: Snuggles Little Dreamer, Emilia Rykowski. Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet; Best Species: Saintpaulia rupi¬ cola-, Best Design, Jill Fischer. Best Gesneriad: Petrocosmea minor-. Design Sweepstakes, Karen Cichocki. AVS OF ROCHESTER, NY - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia grandifolia *299, Saintpaulia ionantha Gesneriad: Dalbergaria sanguinea, Olive Ma Robinson. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Jitterbug, Rob’s Love Bite, Rob’s Ice Ripples; Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Calypso Beat; Best Miniature: Rob’s Jitterbug, Ralph Robinson. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Coflection: Rob’s Cloudy Skies, Optimara Litde Moonstone, Gleeful Elf; Best Standard: B-Man’s Ttapini, Linda and Charlie Rowe. Best 'Itailer: Ramblin’ Ruby; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Barbara Festenstein. Horticulture Sweepstakes, Fay Wagman. AVS OF SPRINGFIELD, PA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia nitida, Saintpaulia rupicola Saintpaulia House of Amani; Best Species: Saintpaulia nitida-. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Joan Santino. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Ness’ Coral Sunset, Frozen in Time, Optimara Oklahoma; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Optimara Little Inca, Optimara Little Hopi; Best in Show/Best Standard: Frozen in Time; Best Semiminiature: Optimara Little Inca, Peggy Mooney. Best Trailer: Tiny Wood Tail; Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Helen O’; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Barbara Jones. AVS OF SYRACUSE, NY - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Optimara EverPraise; Tiger; B-Man’s Caltanisetta, Robin and Bill Yager. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Cool Blue, Ness’ Firefly, Optimara Little Blackfoot; Best Miniature: Optimara Little Crystal; Best Design, Donna Coleman. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Sassy Sister, Rob’s Shadow Magic, Rob’s Boondoggle; Best Species: Saintpaulia nitida-. Horticulture Sweepstakes, Mary Ryan. Best in Show/Best Ttailer: Chantaspring; Best Semiminiature: Irish Flirt; Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Gator’s Tbil’, Lee Hoke. Best Standard: Wild Irish Rose, Karen Dupree. Design Sweepstakes, Linda Rowe. ALBUQUERQUE AVC, NM - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Picasso, Velvet Frost, Vintage Wine; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Mac’s Virtually Velvet, Ness’ Satin Rose, Aunt Irene; Best in Show/Best Standard: Picasso; Best Ttailer: Saintpaulia pendula-, Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpella, Louisa Sando. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Optimara Nevada, Bob Serbin, King’s Tteasure; Best Semiminiature: Little Pro; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Jo Ellen Bowden. Best Design, Peggy Atencio. Design Sweepstakes, Marty Mitchell. BAY STATE AVS, MA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia grandifolia *299, Saintpaulia grandifolia *237, Saintpaulia pendula var. kizarae-. Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia, Eleanor Maclver. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Simpler Times, Sheer Romance, Tony’s Extravaganza, Susan Gunblet. Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Sharon Rosenweig. Best Standard: Sheer Romance, Susan Gimblet Best Miniature: Petite Blarney, Carol Hess. Best Ttailer: Sunrise Waltz; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Nancy Manozzi. Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Alfred Stark’, Maria Montague. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Barbara Vericker. CAPITOL CITY AVS, CA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Rhapsodie Rosalie D, Rhapsodie Cora, Optimara California; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Little Pueblo, Optimara Little Maya, Ness’ Firefly; Best Standard: Rhapsodie Cora; Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Bristol’s Sunrise’-, Horticulture Sweepstakes, Cindi Nofeiger. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Lyon’s Plum Pudding, Silver Brocade, Purple Tempest, Oscar Faoro. Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Boogie Woogie; Design Sweepstakes, Barbara Elkin. Best Miniature: Rob’s Fo Fum; Best Ttailer: Milky Way Tail, Dianna Peterson. Best Design, Mae Mendes. CENTRAL JERSEY AVS, NJ - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Frozen in Time, Splendiferous, Rhapsodie Mary; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Magic Blue, Little Pro, Rob's Fuddy Duddy; Best m Show/Best Standard: Rhapsodie Mary; Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet; Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia #299; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Ronald Ennis. 2nd Best Standard 46 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 Coflection: Vince’s Choice, Picturesque, Polar Bear, Annemarie Beardsley. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Miss Priss, Ness’ Satin Rose, Optimara Little Seminole; Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Miss Priss; Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Kee Wee’; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Jan Murasko. Best Trailer: Champagne Pink, Janet Royce. EARLY BIRD VC, AL - Winners: Best in Show/Best Standard: Optimara Hiroshige, Anita Goodall. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Blanche Holt, Rebel’s Flaming Star, Simpler Times, Sandra Campbell. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Snake Charmer, Rob’s Puddy Cat, Rob’s Sarsparilla; Best Miniature: Rob’s Rinky Dink; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Martha Coleman. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Sundown Ttail, Marion’s Enchanted Ttail, Rob’s Vanilla Trail; Best Trailer: Marion’s Enchanted Ttail, Jerry Goodall. Best Se miminiat ure: Rob’s Dandy Lion; Best Gesneriad: Chirita tami- ana, Nancy Romeo. Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia, Gwen Johnson. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Diane Henderson. THE EVENING AVC OF DES MOINES, IA - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Winnergreen, Rob’s Fiddle Faddle, Ness’ Crinkle Blue; Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Winnergreen; Best Miniature: Rob’s Loose Noodle; Horticulture Sweepstakes, David Taylor. Best Standard: Dancin’ Fool, Ken Wilkinson. Best Trailer: Kissaway Ttail, Deb Oelmann. Best Gesneriad: Kohleria ‘Dark FIRST AVS OF WICHITA FALLS, TX - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Smooch Me, Ness’ Viking Maiden, Lavender Shadow; Best Standard: Smooch Me; Best Design, Allene Peek. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Shirt’s New Life, Optimara Kentucky, Ttopical Heat Wave; Best Semiminiature: Little Pro; Best Ttailer: Deer Ttail; Best Sped Gail Elmore. Gibson. Design Sweepstakes (tie), Freida Gibson and Allene F GARDEN STATE AVC, PA - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Planet Kid, Rob’s Rinky Dink, Petite Jewel, Lionel Gaylard. Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Optimara little Blackfoot; Best Miniature: Mac’s Quaintly Quintessential; Best Ttailer: Rob’s Lilli Pilli; Horticulture Sweepstakes, George McDonald. Best Standard: Fisherman’s Paradise; Best Design, Fred Hill. Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia #299, Sheila Ando. Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Falling Star’, Gail Gray. Design Sweepstakes, Barbara GEORGIA AV JUDGES SOCIETY, GA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Buckeye Masterpiece, Apache Diamond, Vintage Wine; Best in Show/Best Standard: Apache Diamond, Janice Norton. Best Semiminiature: Lexi’s Party Dress; Best Miniature: Petite Fantasy, Cathy Carter. Best Ttailer: Dancin’ Ttail, Jeanette Wallace. Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpella ‘Blueberries and Cream’; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Laura Walker. Horticulture Sweepstakes, Kathy Spissman. HEART OF MISSOURI AVS, MO - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Lilli Pilli, Rob’s Sticky Wicket, Rob’s Miriwinni; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Peggy Payne. Best in Show/Best Standard: Ma’s Second Thoughts; Best Miniature: Planet Kid, Thylor Show. Best Ttailer: Rob’s Boolaroo, Jean Warren. Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Bristol’s Hop Along’; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Dorothy Anderson. LAKESHORE AVS, ONTARIO - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Aca’s Wewonchu, Optimara EverPraise, Optimara New Mexico, Tony Hulleman. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Harbor Blue, Blushing Ivory, B-Man’s Alessio; Best Standard: B-Man’s Agrigento, Bruno Curcuruto. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Cupid’s Kiss, Aca’s Georgene; Best in Show/Best Species: Saintpaulia ionantha, Best Ttailer: Rob’s Vanilla Ttail; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Beverley Williams. Best Semiminiature: Shy Blue, Marina de Souza. Best Miniature: Optimara Little Moonstone, Sandra Lex. Best Gesneriad: Chirita linearifolia, Carolyn Conlin- Lane. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Eleanor Elston. LATE BLOOMERS AVC OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN, WI - Winners: Best in Show/Best Standard: Picasso; Best Design; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Jan Judd. MAGIC KNIGHT AVS, TX - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Dean’s Cupid, Dean’s Bunny Blue, Thunder Surprise; Best Gesneriad: Petrocosmeajorrestii, Shirley Sanders. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Fuzzy Navel, Rob’s Fuddy Duddy, Definitely Darryl; Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Fuddy Duddy; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Ken Froboese. Best Standard: Apache Freedom, Steven Spachek. Best Miniature: Texas Space Dust; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Janey Reddell. Best Species: Saintpaulia orbicularis, Dea Johnson. MEMPHIS AVS, TN - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Suncoast Lavender Silk, Phantom Flash, Louisiana Lagniappe; Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia # 237 ; Best Ttailer: Rob’s Boolaroo; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Geneva Stagg. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Hot Chocolate, Rob’s Fuddy Duddy, Rob’s Inner Orbit; : Rob’s Inner Orbit; Best Standard: >’s Rinky Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Lynn Red Ruby’; Best Design-, Design Sweepstakes, Danny Tidwell. METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS AV COUNCIL, MO - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Optimara Little Amethyst, Orchard’s Bumble Magnet, Optimara Rose Quartz; Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet; Best Gesneriad: Chiritajlavimaculata-, Best Design; Horticulture Sweepstakes; Design Sweepstakes, Fran Russotn. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Optimara Little Pueblo, Slow Dancin’ Aunt Georgia, Susan Hapner. Best in Show/Best Standard: Frozen in Time, Janet Graves. Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Slap Happy; Best Ttailer: Chantaspring, Marcia Jacobs. Best Species: Saintpaulia ionantha, Mary Ann Switzer. MONCTONIA AVS, NEW BRUNSWICK - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Jeanie Bell, Moonlight Waves, Mauna Loa-, Best Gesneriad: Chirita ‘Aiko’; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Eva Belliveau. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection.- Jimo, Orchard’s Bumble Magnet, Rob’s Voodoo Blue; Best in Show/Best Standard: B-Man’s Etna; Best Miniature: Rob’s Voodoo Blue; Best Ttailer: Rob’s Gundaroo; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Sharon Bailey. Best Semiminiature: Little Axel, Sandy Golding. NASA AREA AVS, TX - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Frozen in Time, Louisiana Lagniappe, Rodeo Pioneer; Best Standard: Frozen in Time; Design Sweepstakes, Rhona Thurman. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Smooch Me, Mary Craig, Wrangler’s Dixie Celebration; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Rob’s Gizmo, Green Dragon; Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Ness’ Crinkle Blue; Best Species: Saintpaulia velutina-. Horticulture Sweepstakes, Gary Thurman. Best Ttailer: Champagne Pink; Best Design, Onalee McEwen. Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Orion’, Christine Solomon. NORTH STAR AV COUNCIL, MN - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Optimara Monet, Rebel’s Blueberry Ice, Rebel’s Minnesota Haze-, Best in Show/Best Standard: Rebel’s Minnesota Haze, Gail Podany. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Floozie, Rebel’s Faith, Rebel’s Blaze Spinner; 2nd Best Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Fuzzy Navel, Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Precious Pink; Best Miniature: Texas Space Dust; Best Ttailer: Rob’s Gundaroo; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Ruth Bann. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rowdy Ray, Ness’ Satin Rose, Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Sandy Officer. Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia Mather No. 7; Best Design, Barbara Wemess. Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Falling Stars’, Sharon September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 47 OLD DOMINION AVS, VA - Winners: Best in Show/Best Standard: Optimara Paris, Michelle Lewis. Best Semiminiature: Ness’ Satin Rose; Best Miniature: Gleeful Elf; Best 'frailer: Ramblin’ Lace; Best Gesneriad: Chirita ‘Stardust’; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Jillene Dolister. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Laurene Hailer: Rob’s Sticky Wicket; Best Semiminiature: Trinket Summer Skies; Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Shirley Faris. Best Standard: Buckeye Cherry Sundae, Stephany HowitL Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Chocolate Warrior’, Juanita Mallory. Best Design, Marian Schaaf. Design Sweepstakes, OMAHA AVS, NE - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Buckeye Love’s Caress, Tomahawk, Buckeye Concerto; 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Rob’s Whodunit, Classic Rock; Best in Show/Best Standard: Buckeye Love’s Caress; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Kent Stork. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Boogie Woogie, Rob’s Dust Storm, Rob’s Little Pueblo; Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Boogie Woogie, B.J. ohme. Best 'frailer: Rob’s Sticky Wicket, Joyce Stork. Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Kee Wee’, Nancy Horan. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Mary Jo Bradley. OSHKOSH VIOLET SOCIETY, WI - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Rev’s Freckle Face, Rev’s Heavenly Star, Rebel’s Splatter Rake; Best in Show/Best Semiminiature: Rid Rada; Best Design; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Kevin Degner. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Samtpaulia con/usa, Saintpaulia diplotricha Punter #0, Samtpaulia orbicularis var. purpurea. Best Species: Saintpaulia orbicularis var. purpurea, William Greider. Best Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Irish Flirt, Rob’s Boogie Woogie; Best Standard: Frozen in Time; Best 'frailer: Enchanting Waterfall; Best Gesneriad: Chirita ‘Aiko’, Ebe Schreiber. Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet, Marty Anderson. Design Sweepstakes, Betsy Fox. OTTAWA AVS, ONTARIO - Winners: Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Wind Chimes, Symphonette, Von’s Mariner; Best Gesneriad: Sinningia ‘Flair’, Lorna Russell. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Teen Sweetheart, Rob’s Pink Puff, Rob’s Slap Happy; Best in Show/Best 'frailer: Ramblin’ Sunshine; Best Standard: Optimara EverLove; Best Miniature: Toronto Belle; Best Species: Saintpaulia grata; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Bob McCabe. Best Semiminiature: Mini Papa, Eileen McGrath. Best Design, Jane Lund. Design Sweepstakes, Sandy Black. QUAD-CITIES AVS, IA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Ness’ Midnight Fantasy, Ode to Beauty, Phantom Flash, Cel Schafer. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Lemon Cookie, Rob’s Litde Pueblo, Rob’s Gizmo; Best Miniature: Mickey Mouse; Best 'frailer: Pixie Blue; Best Design, LuAnn Christenson. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Boogie Woogie, Irish Flirt, Ness’ Sno Fun; Best Semiminiature: Bogeyman, John Jugendeimer. Best in Show/Best Standard: Heinz’s Harbour Lights; Best Gesneriad: Sinningia ‘Ozark Rosy Cheeks’, Dale Martens. SAN MATEO COUNTY AVS, CA - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Splendiferous, Optimara Ontario, Halo’s Aglitter; Best Species: Saintpaulia velutina lite; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Tory Hartman. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Bed Bug, Rob’s Mad Cat, Ness’ Crinkle Blue; Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Bed Bug, Peggy Gensel. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Optimara Little Crystal, Optimara Rose Quartz, Optimara Little Diamond, Madeline Taube. Best in Show/Best Miniature: Optimara Little Moonstone, Charmion Woolfe. Best Standard: East Wind, Thelma Walther. Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Kee Wee’, Gary Beck. Best Design, Sam McKenna. Design Sweepstakes (tie): Sam McKenna and Heather Morgan. SHO-ME AVC, MO - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia con/usa, Saintpaulia grandifolia, Saintpaulia ionantha; Best Species: Saintpaulia rupicola Cha Simba, Richard Fans. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Optimara EverPraise, Optimara Kansas, Optimara Michelangelo; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Sticky Wicket, Rob’s Lilli Pilii, Linda Darnel; Best in Show/Best SOCIETE DES SAINTPAULIA DE MONTREAL, MONTREAL - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Frosted Whisper, Powwow, Sansoucy’ Coco; Best in Show/Best Standard: Perreault Rose, Colette Perreault. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Aca’s Tornado, Picasso, Wild Irish Rose; Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Boo Man, Litde Pro, Ness’ Crinkle Blue; Best Semiminiature: Ness’ Cranberry Swirl; Best Miniature: Rob’s Zippity Doo; Best Design; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Annie Simard. Best 'frailer: Cirelda, Nancy Robitaille. Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifolia #299, Francine Houde. Best Gesneriad: Episcia ‘Golddigger’, Marie Gagnon. Design Sweepstakes, Johanne Bordeleau. SOUTH COAST AVS AND TUSTANA AVS, CA - Winners: Best in Show/Best Standard: Marshlands; Best Semiminiature: Litde Pro; Best Gesneriad: Sinningia ‘White Sprite’; Best Miniature: Orchard’s Bumble Magnet; Best 'frailer: Wood 'frail; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Leonard Re. Best Species: Saintpaulia ionantha Mather, Jacquie Eisenhut. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Elaine Re. SWEET WATER AVS, NY - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Aca’s Summer Parfait, Apache Freedom, Maas’ Janet; 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Blue Silhouette, Litde Pro, Rob’s Gizmo; Best Gesneriad: Petrocosmeajlaccida; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Carolyn Klein. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Optimara Van Gogh, Rebel’s Blue Lake, Rebel’s Splatter Kake, William Paauwe. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Antique Rose, Rob’s Ruff Stuff, Sassy Sister; Best Miniature: Tiny Moon Goddess, Nancy Platnick. Best in Show/Best Standard: Rose Buddies; Best 'frailer: Perk Up; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Joyce Rodler. Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Outer Orbit; Best Species: Saintpaulia grandifo¬ lia #299, Jeanette Haynal. THIMBLE ISLANDS AVS, CT - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Frozen in Time, Enchanted April, Kathe Denise; Best in Show/Best Standard: Frozen in Time; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Buzz ‘Falling Star’, Dick Bower. Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Charlene Boyce. UNPREDICTABLES AVC, MO - Winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Missouri Pride, Royal Knight, Aca’s Red Face; Best in anow/uest Miniature: Texas Space Dust; Best Standard: Aca’s Red Face; Best Gesneriad: Chirita sinensis; Horticulture Sweepstakes, Fred Inbody. 2nd Best AVSA Standard Collection: Saintpaulia confusa, Samtpaulia grandifolia, Saintpaulia ionantha; Best Species: Samtpaulia magungensis var. minima, Dick Faris. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Scooter, Rob’s Heat Wave, Ness’ Crinkle Blue; Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Scooter, Patricia Inbody. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Ness’ Crinkle Blue, Rob’s Fuddy Duddy, Rob’s Little Pueblo, Wilma Wolverton. Best ’frailer: Linda Darnell; Best Design; Design Sweepstakes, Sue Hill. WEST TEXAS AVS, TX - winners: Best AVSA Standard Collection: Frosted Whisper, Gemcraft Pink Pearl, Blue Puff; Best Tfruler: Ramblin’ Show Stopper; Best Species: Saintpaulia rupicola; Best Gesneriad: Streptocarpus ‘Iced Amethyst Showoff, Lea Geers. Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Petite Jewel, Rob’s Rinky Dink, Rob’s Squeeze Toy; Best Miniature: Petite Jewel, Jerry Geers. 2nd Best AVSA Mini/Semi Collection: Rob’s Denim Demon, Rob’s Slap Happy; Robs Calypso Beat; Best Semiminiature: Rob’s Calypso Beat, Darryl Burton. Best in Show/Best Standard: Wrangler’s El Diablo; Best Design, Marge Savage. 48 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 A New Union County Chapter Collection Class and Awards for Max W. Maas Hybrids by Walther H. Ott Union County (NJ) Chapter of AVSA A new collection class and new award rosettes for Max W. Maas hybrids were introduced by the Union County (NJ) Chapter of AVSA at its 50th Anniversary show and plant sale on March 19 and 20, 2004, in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The description of this new class, as presented in the show schedule for the Horticultural Division, was as follows: “Class 2. - Union County Chapter, AVSA, collection of three different named varieties, all hybridized by Max W. Maas. Need not be registered. Each plants must score 90 or more points to be eligible for the UCC first or second rosette.” At the 2004 show, posters describing the new UCC class were displayed flat on the show table directly in front of the exhibited collections (Fig. 1). The wordings on the posters were as follows: “A NEW COLLECTION CLASS FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW UNION COUNTY CHAPTER, A.V.S.A. COLLECTION OF THREE NAMED MAX W. MAAS VARIETIES” The special rosette awards for this new collection class were a UCC First (purple) rosette and a UCC Second (red) rosette (Fig. 2). A picture of an African violet blossom appeared on the rosette buttons. The wordings on the white middle ribbons were as follows, in gold letters: “BEST COLLECTION OF THREE DIFFERENT MAX W. MAAS ORIGINATIONS - UNION COUNTY CHAPTER - AVSA” and “SECOND BEST COLLECTION OF THREE DIFFERENT MAX W. MAAS ORIGINATIONS - UNION COUNTY CHAPTER-AVSA” The introduction of the UCC Collection class for Maas hybrids at our 50th Anniversary Show in 2004 was another step in our chapter’s long history of memorializing the hybridization accomplishments of Max W. Maas (AVM July/August 1987, pgs 35, 36). This new UCC class in our show schedule now provides a special way to show many of the 26 new Maas varieties that were selected and named from the last seedlings hybridized by Max W. Maas (AVM May/June 2000, pgs 38, 39). In addition, the older Maas hybrids that are registered can be exhibited in the new UCC class as well as in our show Class I for AVSA collections of registered varieties. At our 2004 show, three collections were exhibited in this new class. One collection won only blue ribbons and was awarded the new UCC purple rosette for Best Maas Collection (Fig. 3). ‘Maas’ Dorothy’ in this collection, was named Third Best Maas Origination. In another collection in this class, ‘Maas’ Walther’ was named Second Best Maas Origination. A ‘Maas’ Dorothy’, in Class 6 for specimen plants, was named Best Maas Origination. September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 49 Cheryl in Violetland, or Why A Novice Like Me Went to Judges School by Cheryl Johnston • Dallas, Texas “Ifyou don't know where you are going, you'll probably end up somewhere else." Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) I love this quote from Alice and Wonderland. I love it so much 1 launch each new school year by cracking my new stu¬ dents across their teen addled brows with it Not only do I love the quote, I need it as a constant reminder to make a plan, work the plan, stay the course, and keep my eye on the goal. It is something that guides my life. Without these measures, I would certainly fragment, disintegrate, and float off into the ether. It is the way I am; anybody who knows me well can cor¬ roborate this information. After attending an African violet show a few years ago, the idea of showing my violets popped into my head and wouldn’t pop out I wanted to grow African violets that I could show. I didn’t want to just show plants, I wanted blue ribbons. Actually, I wanted plants so beautiful that viewing would be an exhilarating, breath-taking experience. Something like seeing the Grand Canyon. Well, that describes where I wanted to go, but I had no idea how to get there. Step one of my plan for success was to do a violet inven¬ tory. At that point in history, I had seven violets sitting on my window sill, but four of those were NOIDs. Ah ha! I needed more violets. I figured that with ten named violets, I might grow one that would be a winner. I placed an order to Rob’s Violet Bam. I took the special package deal: ten violets (Rob’s choice), thirty dollars. For good measure, I ordered a few episcias. While searching for violet vendors on the internet, I dis¬ covered violet chat groups, so I joined a few. joining a club was the next step, so I joined two: Denton then Fort Worth. I would have gotten involved in the Dallas clubs if it weren’t so scary to drive in Dallas. My plan was taking shape. My violet collection grew off the kitchen window sill onto a plastic snap-together shelf in front of a bigger window in our laundry room/pantry. Then it grew on to the pantry shelves which were progressively fitted with lights. Who needs a pantry when you live so close to the Sonic? Sonic, by the way, sells frozen treats in containers which can be used to start violets. As it does, time marched on, and I entered my first show- not just any show, but the State Show. This event was doubly exciting for me as I was allowed to serve as a clerk. For the clerking job I was told to stand away from the judges, but close enough to help as a judge may require. During the judging, I saw that the judges considered more than just the big head of blooms. I went home from that show just thrilled; not only had each of the eight plants I had taken won a blue ribbon, I had gotten to rub elbows with really knowledgeable violet growers. These people had the knowledge that only comes from years of experience. “Curiouser and curionser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, thatjor the moment she quiteforgot how to speak good English )... And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. After my first show, I began to wonder. Why had one beautiful plant gotten a blue ribbon and the one sitting right next to it, looking equally beautiful, gotten a blue and was moved to the winners table? For some of the plants, it was evident, but for others it was not. How had the judges come to some of their conclusions? Was it just their personal pref¬ erence? Didn’t a full head of blooms always mean a prize winning plant? How did they know which one to pick? There must be other factors, besides blooming, that make a plant a winner. I figured that knowing what judges know would help me be a better grower. It was with this thought in mind that I decided I would go to judges’ school. How could I show violets without knowing the criteria for judging? I know some people might think it odd, that a novice like me would sign up to go to judges’ school; heck 1 was a bit embarrassed to sign up myself. The attributes of a judge include knowledge, judgment, experience, fairness, courage, tact, and kindness. I didn’t have every one of those; however I felt that with time and a little effort I could gain them. Additionally, I had the following qualifications covered. I was a member of AVSA, I had proof of winning three blue ribbons, and I had at least 25 varieties of African violets with 15 being registered (Boy, did I have that last one covered). I was ready to go to school! I looked at it this way, becoming a judge had to be a great way to grow better plants. In consideration of the fact that making the grade as a Master Judge would take a minimum of 24 years, I figured I had better get with the program if I wanted to make it while I was still allowed to drive. I am now student judge. This is like being an apprentice. I can serve on a panel with two other very experienced judges. Up to this point, I have never even been asked to serve on a judging panel, but some day I will. I think I will be ready because I practice daily: rating my plants against the scale of points used in the judges handbook. Now I can con¬ sider the point scale when buying plants as candidates for showing. Going to judges’ school has enabled me to focus on plant standards and use grooming practices for all my plants. Judging my own plants is helping me become more confident in my abilities to raise show-worthy plants. 50 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 If you have never given any thought to becoming a judge, you should. Not only will you improve your growing abilities, you get to work with the greatest people, and sometimes their vast experience rubs off a bit on you. At the minimum, buy a copy of the AVSA Handbook for African Violet Growers, Exhibitors , from the AVSA office. In addition to the plant eval¬ uation guide, this book explains how to make a show sched¬ ule and how to set up a show. It has information on plant prop¬ agation, pests, and diseases. If you are ever planning to show plants, it is a must have, must read book If you have internet access, you might really enjoy reading an article from African Violet Magazine May/funel993 the BEGINNERS COLUMN: BLUE RIBBONS?? A Beginner’s Guide to Judging, By Joyce and Kent Stork http://www.avsa.org/AVMFiles/AVIudg in g -Be ginner.pdf . This is an excellent article and will help you set your growing goals. Remember, if you don’t know where you want to go, how you will know how to get there? Russian Hybrid Collection offered in Minneapolis The Russian hybrid African violet leaves caused quite a frenzy in Tucson. They brought in a tremendous amount of money at the luncheon auction. Libbie Glembocki at Bluebird Greenhouses, Apex, NC (919-362-0530 or http://www.bluebirdgreenhouse.com) was the lucky recipient of the leaves for propagation purposes. Several other AVSA commercial members now have stock from these plants. Vladimir Kalgin and his lovely wife Thtiana who come to the AVSA conventions from Moscow, Russia, donated the leaves. They are now donating three very generous Awards for a collection of three of their AVSA registered Russian Standard hybrids. Winner of the Collection Award will receive $300, Second place gets $200, and Third takes home $100. This news is spreading, so call your favorite African violet vendor today and be a lucky winner.! September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 51 A Year of Growing by Kathy Garbarino As editor of the New York State AVS Empire Violet Magazine, I featured articles written by my 5th grade class. The class has been learning about tissue culture as an alternative method of propagation. They were successful in tissue culturing African violet leaves. After the big experiment, they were able to see the process done professionally on a field trip to the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with Dr. Charles Maynard. The class continued this study throughout the year with many scientific applications to this very hefty project, along with the growing of Streptocarpus plants for the Syracuse AVS show. As a final culminating activity, each member of the class contributed to the magazine, either relating their experi¬ ences, researching and writing about an African violet-related subject, giving an interview, or making a poem or cartoon. BIOTECHNOLOGY COMES TO THE CLASSROOM by Gabrielle Huther My “budding” classmates and I performed tissue culture with our teacher, Mrs. Garbarino, and we’re only in 5th grade! We did projects, experiments, and to top it all off....we got to go on a really cool field trip! Last summer, my teacher, Mrs. Garbarino, tried tissue culture for the very first time with Dr. Charles Maynard. She said it was fun. So when she started teaching this year, she taught us. We learned very quickly for our age! First, we learned the vocabu¬ lary words needed for tissue culture. After learning our vocabu¬ lary words, we started making the media that the tissue culture needed to grow on. We added the hormones and the nutrients to help the plants grow. After pouring the media and measuring for the jars, we sterilized the water, and it was ready. After that, Mrs. Garbarino showed our principal, Mrs. Lisa Anderson, how to perform tissue culture. Mrs. Anderson demonstrated the process for us. Then, it was our turn! We washed our hands and got ready to start the great tissue culture experiment. We made sure that everything was sterile with a 70% alcohol spray. Then we cleaned, disinfected, and rinsed the leaves, cut them into sections, and put the pieces on the medium. No accidents, and no contamination. Then we taped the jars, and we were done! t field trip to the SUNY On October 8, 2004, we took £ College of Environmental Science and Forestry to visit Dr. Charles Maynard and Linda Polin, Dr. Maynard’s lab manager. Ms. Polin, along with others at the university, discovered how to cure the blight that was harming and killing the Chestnut trees in our area. She explained to us that tissue culture has a big importance in the world. Then she showed us the chestnut tree clones that were worth a quarter of a million dollars. That’s $250,000.00 each! She then showed us how tissue culture is done professionally under a laminar flow hood. Dr. Maynard showed us the autoclave for sterilization. He looked at our homemade tissue cultures that we brought with us to show him, and he saw that none had contamination. He told the class, “Great job!” After that, we all got Venus Flytraps as a gift! We continued growing the clones in our classroom with their e-mail help throughout the year! We did have success and have grown out several plants from this Thank you. Dr. Maynard and Linda Polin for all you did for us. We won’t forget you. 52 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 So, What Is Tissue Culture, Anyway? by Maty Baker So, do you want to know more about what we’ve been doing all year? We’ve been learning about tissue culture! Tissue culture is a technique used to grow plants on an artificial substance from tissues or pieces of a plant material to promote cell division to generate new plants. Thke small pieces of plants such as leaves, stems, buds, flowers, or seeds, and grow them on a media that has the correct balance of chemicals, growth hormones, and nutrients. The little pieces of tissue will reproduce clones or replicas of the single parent plant. People use tissue culture because they can mass propagate very valuable plants. They can culture disease-free plants as well. We can also speed up production of new varieties of plants. Everything must be totally sterile. We perform tissue culture by making media and then by growing sterile plant parts on it We always use a clean area and prepare the leaves by cleaning them with alcohol. Then we disinfect the leaves with a 10% bleach solution for 10 minutes. After the bleach solution, you rinse the leaves with sterilized water. Next get the leaf ready for placing on the media. First, cut the edges and the middle vein off the leaf. Then, cut the leaf into sections. After cutting, place 3-4 sections of the leaves in different areas on the media. Thpe the top of the jar securely so that it doesn’t become contaminated. The leaves will start to swell in 2 - 4 weeks. After about 4-5 weeks, callus, or unorganized cells, will develop, and soon small plantlets will be visible. Clones are tissue cultured plants that are micro-propagated cuttings, genetically identical to the mother and daughter plants; which is what we produced! Do you think you can do this? If you are interested, go to www.kitchencultmekit.com to learn how you can do it too! Good Luck! Streps - R - Us by Samantha Samek ■ This year, Mrs. Gaibarino’s 5th grade class is doing many projects. One of them is growing Streptocarpus plants for the African Violet Society of Syracuse’s spring show. Mrs. Garbarino got Streptocarpus seeds from Frank Davies, of the British Streptocarpus Society, all the way from England! She grew the seeds until they were able to be transplanted; then we re-potted the little plants into small white solo cups. Within the first month, we had to transplant them into bigger cups. They grew a lot! The class did an ex Periment according to an article by Dale Martens, a famous Streptocarpus hybridizer. She recommended re-potting every two weeks for the first eight weeks of a plant’s life. The class that, and it made a big difference! ^ class learned many facts on the way. My classmate, Gabrielle, had the longest leaf, but she accidentally broke it. ^ fe } t terrible. Then, the next day she noticed a new baby leaf! We discovered that when one leaf is broken or clipped, more energy goes into producing another baby plant! We e-mailed Dale Martens with our sl tuation and photos, and she responded with this advice! e very proud of them! Also, you have no idea how tickled / ai The other thing that I do with streps when they are eight weeks old is to remove the upper 1/3 of the leaf. This stimulates new growth, and your class proved that, too, even if at first by GabrieHe’s accident! Thank you so very muchfor sharing the photos with me! I decided to clip my leaf too, and John joined me. Our plants grew and grew, and new leaves appeared quickly. The show was on May 7th and May 8th. Everyone won a first place blue rosette ribbon! Mrs. Garbarino brought the plants and ribbons back to school so we could bring them home to show our parents. For some of the students (including me), this was to be their first blue ribbon. We were thrilled! The entire class had their picture taken with their blue ribbons for the cover of the magazine. At the end of the day, we took our plants home to keep forever. We loved the year¬ long projects and experiments. The class is going to miss Mrs. Garbarino because she is retiring, and we are going to sixth grade Even though we are leaving, we will always have the memories of cloning plants and growing streps with our favorite teacher SEPreM BER*Ocro B et2005 African Violet Magazine 53 WORTH REPEATING..,from 1994 Make a Travel Case for Your Violets Maryann Switzer • Chesterfield, MO Going to the AVSA convention is a big thrill for African vio¬ let enthusiasts. To fully participate in the convention, one needs to enter plants in the show. But many conventioneers say, “I can’t bring plants, I’m traveling by plane.” In this arti¬ cle, I will show you how to put together a box for easy trans¬ portation of small show plants. I fixed up such a box and took it to the 1993 Lancaster convention. I was able to take two semiminiature and four miniature African violets. The box fit under the seat on both of my flights. I hadn’t been worried about the first leg of the journey from St. Louis to Pittsburgh. But from Pittsburgh to Lancaster, we were to take a tiny Jetstream 31. My box fit under the seat perfectly. We encoun¬ tered turbulence on both flights, but the plants arrived with absolutely no damage to blossoms or foliage. Materials Needed 1 Rubbermaid Keepers Snap Case (17.25" x 14") 1 Plastic luggage handle (Brainerd Mfg. Co.) 2 Brass mending plates 1/2" x 2" (Brainerd Mfg Co.) 4 Brass round head machine screws 6/32 x 1/2 4 Brass machine screw hex nuts 6/32 4 split ring lock washers to fit screws 11-1/2" x 15" styrofoam headboard insulation - 1 inch thick 2 yards 3/4” elastic Method of Construction I bought the luggage handle, hardware, and beadboard insulation at the hardware store. Look at the photo of the finished box to see how to center the handle on the lid of the box. Using an ice pick, scratch marks where you want the screws to go. Tty to lineup the holes in the handle, hardware, and the mending plate as closely as possible. Then use an elec¬ tric drill with a fine drill bit to make the holes for the screws. The handle is placed on top of the box, the mending plate on the inside. The screws pass from the handle holes through the plastic lid and then through the mending plate. A lock washer is placed on the screw, and then the hex nut is screwed on and tightened. Next, you must cut a piece of the styrofoam beadboard insulation to fit the bottom of the box snugly. First, I cut a paper pattern to fit the bottom of the box, and then used that pattern to draw the shape I needed onto the beadboard with a marker. The easiest way to cut the beadboard is to hold a yard¬ stick where you want to cut a long straight line, and then use a utility knife to score that line. Then pick up the beadboard, thumbs on each side of the score line, and snap it apart The rounded comers you can just break off with your fingers. The bottom of the case has an edge that is set back. Use the utility knife to cut out this piece. Next, you need to decide what size pots you are taking and how many holes to make. I decided which plants were going to show, set them in the box, and traced around the pots. I find that a hole 1-3/4' across holds a 2" pot, and a hole 1-7/8" across holds a 2-1/4" pot I started to cut the holes with an X-acto knife, but the blade didn’t cut deep enough, so I finished cutting the holes with a fine-toothed thin blade knife usually used for slicing tomatoes. If you feel that your beadboard isn’t tight enough in the box, and might move in transit, affix it to the bottom of the case with some double¬ sided carpet tape. The Rubbermaid Keepers Snap Case has two latches, but they are not strong. I use two pieces of elastic to keep the case tightly closed (see photo). Measure enough elastic to go around the case and hold it snugly. Overlap the elastic about an inch and sew securely by hand. Your case is now complete. These Rubbermaid Snap Cases come in several transparent colors. Both the lavender and pink boxes look especially nice when filled with blooming African violets. I think the trans¬ parency of the box has several advantages over a cardboard box. By being able to see what you are carrying, people avoid bump¬ ing into you. Also, they can see the African violets. Many peo¬ ple don’t know that African violets come in miniature sizes. While in the airport I was asked numerous questions about African violets and wished good luck in the show. Never pass up the opportunity to spread the good word about African violets and AVSA Conclusion After the show, I sold four of my plants. (I knew that I had duplicates at home.) I stripped most of the leaves off of the 54 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 other two plants. Then I had room in my box to take home the many plants and leaves which I had bought in the commercial salesroom. I hope that many of you will make these travel boxes. They only take a quick shopping trip and about 30 min¬ utes of your time. I look forward to see¬ ing many members bring these boxes to the next convention. The more plants that are entered, the prettier the show will be. And you can’t win if you don’t enter! Editor’s Note: I received a letter from Maryann suggesting that I run this article again. She read Laurel Goretsky’s reference to national show- winner Kathy Lahti’s box for trans¬ porting her plants to show, which had been made following the directions in this original article. Maryann thought other AVSA members might want to utilize this method as well. Convention 2006 Minneapolis, Minnesota Shopping Experience Like No Other by Ruth Bann Shoppers fill the aisles on any given day. They come from ^ over the world to view this phenomenon, the Mall of f^enca at 60 East Broadway in Bloomington. It is a one of a 5®* ^ It sits on the site of the old Met Stadium that housed e ^^esota TWins and the Minnesota Vikings, ft was August 1992 when the Mall opened its doors for the time. The Mall is three stories high and has a total of 520 Unruf* many restaur ants, a Chapel, Camp Snoopy, and aerwater Adventures. You actually can walk through the ^ tank to view the sharks and other fish. Some of the larger Sq tember * October 2005 stores in die mall are Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and Seai ’phe Mall offers shopping, food, entertainment, and a chance to see a movie, ride a rotter coaster, meet your favorite celebrity, and even build a LEGO castle. The Matt of America is now one of the most visited destinations in the United States. From a Metro Transit bus stop near the hotel, you can take a 6-mile bus ride directly to the mall or ride the free shuttle from the Sheraton Hotel The Mall of America is a fascinating place to spend some free time during die Convention. African Violet Magazine 55 Van-Rolen Company 1331 Cuyamaca Street #G, El Cajon, CA 92020 Tel: (619) 956-2708 or Toll-free: (866) 5-ORCHID www.aussie-gold.com Email: vanrolen@hotmail.com 56 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 PJonKrtg 'by Moon Scgns Moon In 0rl©s Barren and dry, fiery and masculine. Used for destroying noxious growths, weeds, pests, etc., and for cultivating. Moon In Taurus Productive and moist, earthy and feminine. Used for plant¬ ing many crops, particularly potatoes and root crops, and when hardiness is important. Also used for lettuce, cabbage, and sim¬ ilar leafy vegetables. Moon In G-emtoi Barren and dry, airy and masculine. Used for destroying noxious growths, weeds and pests, and for cultivation. Moon to Cancer Very fruitful and moist, watery and feminine. This is the most productive sign, used extensively for planting and irrigation. Moon to Teo Barren and dry, fiery and masculine. This is the most barren sign, used only for killing weeds and for cultivation. Moon to Yfrcp Barren and moist, earthy and feminine. Good for cultiva¬ tion and destroying weeds and pests. Moon fn UW Semi-fruitful and moist, airy and masculine. Used for planting many crops and producing good pulp growth and roots. A very good sign for flowers and vines. Also used for seeding hay, com fodder, etc. Moon to Scorpio Very fruitful and moist, watery and feminine. Nearly as productive as Cancer; used for the same purposes. Especially good for vine growth and sturdiness. Moon tn Sa9eWGrctowrreents.Ocatch.com September • October 2005 African Violet Magazine 63 THE AFRICAN VIOLETRY W & Old Varieties - Standards, Semis, Mil Mail Order - Leaves only - My Choice (254) 896-2397 • mhall@worldlssue.com PO. Box 370 • Marlin, TX 76661 MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: I My Choice Only, No List at this time. Please add $5.95 priority shipping charges to above specials. Texas customers, please add 8.25% tax OYAMA PLANTERS SASEfor Oyama Planters Price List PLEASANT HILL AFRICAN VIOLETS 4851 Pieper Road • Brenham, TX 77833 CAPE COD VIOLETRY John & Barbara Cook 28 Minot St. Falmouth MA 02540-2840 Ph.(508)548-2798 Fax (508) 540-5427 Email violets@caDe.com Request catalog in Adobe Acrobat @ ccviolets@msn.com or send $2.00 to above address WE CARRY ALL THE SPECIES AND THE ORIGINAL 10 WE ARE MOVING! After over 45 years in the same location, we are moving OUR NEW ADDRESS AFTER OCT U 2005 Will be: CAPE COD VIOLETRY JOHN & BARBARA COOK 587 SHAWMUT AVE NEW BEDFORD, MA 02740-4620 Phone 508-993-2386 Fax number to be assigned WE WILL BE CLOSED THURSDAYS, SATURDAYS & SOME SUNDAYS UNTIL OCT 1 TO MAKE THE MOVE We will be closed the following dates: Sept 28 th - Oct 9 th NYSAVS Convention Albany NY Oct. 26 th - Oct. 30 th WWW.NYSAVS.ORG MAAVS Convention Richmond VA Nov. 9 th - Nov. 13 th WWW.MAAVS.ORG INSV TESTING KITS BY HYDROS - Prices Postpaid Priority Mail 1- $8.00,3- $21.00,5 - $33.50 64 African Violet Magazine September • October 2005 The Association for plant & flower people who grow in hobby greenhouses and windows! Quarterly Magazine Growing & Maintenance Help & Advice Hobby Greenhouse Association 8 Glen Terrace, Bedford, MA 01730-2048 Dues: USA $19 (Canada and Mexico, $21 USfunds/MO) ($22 Overseas, USfunds/MO) Sample magazine $3.50 Directory of Greenhouse Manufacturers $230 African Violets & Gesneriads "Stnningia Heaven" - Home of the Ozark series "It's a sin not to own a Sinnlngla!" Dave's Violets Fh: (417) 887-8904 1372 S. Kentwood Ave. FAX: (417)-887-1378 Springfield, MO 65804 Web site: www.davesviotets.com ICj fJJJ PI 4 fJJJ African violets and supplies IiIim LmU mm3 Online growing help and photos Greenhouse wwjeedsgreenhousexom j p 3 1753 00327~3395 widCjree^ VjJr Apex, NC ^0/» At the Peak of Violetry Cryptanthus collection requiring the une care. Exquisite colors, leaf shapes i patterns of stripes, bars and zig rags Scud lirsi < I.ins si. imp tui < ulmr.il mlurm.illun or $3.00 for a sample of our color quarterly Journal. THE CRYPTANTHUS SOCIETY Carole Richtmyer - Secretary 18814 Cypress Mountain Drive Spring. TX 77388 Oyama Self Watering Planters If interested in becoming a dealer Call: (907) 338-5551 or Fax: (907) 338-5758 To order planters call: Jim Davis Bellingham, WA (360) 398-2631 Beverly’s Violets & Gifts 6311 Debarr Rd#Q Anchorage, AK 99504 (907) 338-5551 Home of ‘Rob’s Violets’, "Violet Barn African Violets, Gesneriads, the Rare & Unusual 7-time winner, AVSA Best New Cuitivar Award Home of ‘Rob’s’and ‘Ma’s’ hybrids. Shipping quality plants since 1985. NEW AFRICAN VIOLETS FOR 2005 NEW STANDARD VARIETIES AM'S BLUE TURTLE. Big, lovely, double deep, very blue stars over dark, red-backed, variegated foliage AM'S BRDAL BOUQUET. Double white pansies with heavy, bright pink mottling, tinged green. Variegated foliage. AMS EASTER PARADE Double pink pansies, with slightly fringed light green edge Variegated foliage. AMS GRINNING GRAPE Large, lightly ruffled sdbl. purple pansies with very distinctive dork purple edges and tips. AMS WATERMELON. Sdbl. dark, hot coral-pink ruffled stars over dark, heavily serrated, variegated foliage Hot! AMS WBXRNG DAY. Large, glittering, light pink double stars. >rite. Sparkling, medium blue dbl. stars with large white-feathered edges, often gray- green fringed tips. Exquisite variegated foliage Great!! ONE NEW MINIATURE CHIMERA AMS MEGAPHONE Double medium blue beHs,. Dark green variegated foliage. An easy-growing 'collectible'. MAS PEAKFLAAAtNGO. Lovely! Double hot-pink stars over slightly wavy variegated foliage Great bloomer, grower. AMS BED ROVER Really red, really great! Sdbl. to double lightly ruffled dark red pansies. Variegated foliage AMS SHOWGIRL Fully double pansies with glittering rose overlay and irregular, thin white-green edge. Variegated. ROBSLUCKY DUCKY. Sdbl. deep rose-pink pansies. Dark, Very unusual, euonymous-like variegation impervious to heat or age A must for the collector. Chimera $20.00 AH new Standard varieties are S6 each other standard varieties at $5 each, minis at $4 each NEW STREPTOCARPUS FOR 2005 BRtSTOiS CHERRYDtP. Dark cherry-red blooms with white throat and edging, bright white backing. Very profuse. BRSTOLS PARTY BOY. Very colorful bloomer with almost psychedelic blue, rose, and white fantasy-swirled blooms. Large blooms on larger foliage, always in bloom. BRSTOLS PPM TEASE Double carmine-pink with darker rays on lo wer petals. Constantly in heavy bloom. BRSTOLS SURPRISE PARTY. Sometimes pink, sometimes blue, often blue w/pink fantasy, sometimes pink with blue fantasy, often on same plant. Pretty, always a surprise BRSTOLS TROPICAL TWISTER Large raspberry-red blooms with darker face, spotted throat Great, compact grower. BRSTOLS WED CHED. Sdbl. deep mauve-purple with some white mottling on upper lobes, white stripes on lower lobes white backs. Compact, in constant bloom. Fantastic! —-—--For shipping beginning April 15, odd $12 per order for shipping. We ship in winter/ By express mail only. Call for details and pricing. To virtually everywhere Special Often TO different violets or streps (setier's choice), $30 plus shipping. We also ship wholesale WE SHIP ANYWHERE (INTERNATIONALLY), ANYTIME— SAFE DELIVERY GUARANTEED! SEND $2 FOR FULLCOLOR CATALOG, OR VISIT US ONUNE AT MW mu eTBjSV COM Dr. Ralph (Hob) & OBve Ma Robinson PO Box 9, Naples, NY 14512 Phone: 585-374-8592 Fax: 585-374-8947 Shop & Greenhouse open daily. 12-5 pjn.