How do you Purchase Optimara Violet

I tried e-mailing them this evening ..how do you guys order optimara varieties..who to e-mail..thanks in adavance..

Sonia

Hello Sonia,

if you go to www.optimara.com and then follow the mail order link it will take you to an online store called Selective Gardener

You should be able to order plants from them there.

If you happen not to be able to get to their online store from there here is Selective Gardener's link - http://www.selectivegardener.com/

Also, here's a direct link to Holtkamp Greenhouse Inc.

Best of Luck to you, you may also want to check out these other places for AVs

* http://www.robsviolet.com/

* http://www.lyndonlyon.com/

* http://www.bluebirdgreenhouse.com/html/meet_libbie.htm

Of course there may also be some recommended vendors on DG here as well. in DG's marketplace so be sure to check there :)

This message was edited Mar 18, 2010 1:44 AM

Yes, and its still going to be winter shipping rates in some of these places, so be sure you check the dates, you might be able to wait a month or so for a better price.

tish

Thankd SilverTigris and Tish..I tried e-mailing Monique at Selective gardner and the e-mail bounced back..I'll just wait a while and see..thanks again..

Sonia

You're most welcome Sonia.

I know most of them start shipping for spring around March 15th. However, with the weird winter we've had this year they may delay their Spring Shipping. I also suggest you ask them about shipping with heat packs. It will possibly be the best idea especially if you live in a cooler climate. If they do ship their plants in insulated boxes with heat packs, or at least offer that as a shipping option, that may be your best bet. It will cost a little extra for the insulated box with the 72 hour heat pack but at least the plants won't end up being subjected to undue stress or end up with damage from the cold weather.

I know they say that today is the last day of winter (officially) but I'm sure you know as well as I that it doesn't mean the temperatures will be 'spring' temperatures. I definitely think you're doing the right thing by e-mailing the vendors first before purchasing any plants from them and I wish you the best of luck with your quest for an Optimara Violet. I know they always have them in the chain grocery and hardware stores where I live but understand that isn't always the case in other areas.

Please be sure to come back and let us know how things turn out for you and I hope to see you around DG in the future :)

P.S. I personally am looking forward to exploring the other varieties of African Violets including the Russian and Asian Varieties. There are just soo many to choose from that I truely believe there are violets for everyone ;)

I found out something interesting last weekend. Hotkemp has violet plugs shipped in from other places. Then they plant and grow them there in Tn.

Yes, the Holtkamps have greenhouses not only in the U.S. but also in Europe too but it is fasinating to find out that they have violet plugs shipped in from other places. By the way, they not only have the Optimara brand but also they are the originators of the Rhapsody brand violets (Europe based brand) as well. However, you also have to keep in mind that an AV Cross-breeder, Grower and/or Propagator has to start creating their varieties from using some particular source/sources so why not have plugs shipped from other sources then develop your very own AV variety ;)

No matter what it is still very fascinating and is something I could really get into doing myself if I had the proper know how and really knew what to do in order to create my very own variety :)

What is the difference in an Optimara Violet? I bought 2 at a garden show.

Hi everyone, I always admired AV and their cheerful blooms but it was only yesterday that I discovered amazing Optimara and Russian ones. And I was surprised some were available on e-bay. So I wonder do they have kinda license or permission to sell them or everyone who owns the plant can do that?

carpathiangirl & Bluegrassmom,

Welcome to DG and glad to see more new faces like myself on the forums ;)

As for the differences, Optimara is 1 of 2 Brand names of quite a few types of African Violets grown and hybridized by the Holtkemp family. I believe they do have patents on all their AVs and if you purchase an OIptimara or Rhapsodie brand AV because if you read the ID tag for the plant it will even mention that Propagation of some of their AVs is prohibited (at least on the Optimara brands). The Holtkemps' have been growing and breeding/hybridizing African Violets since at least the 1930s when one of their ancestors started hybridizing the Saintpaulia African Violets. Their First hybridized AV was called Saint Martin and was named after the hybridizer's (Hermann Holtkemp) father-in-law Martin Dorrenbach.

If you're interested in finding out more about the Optimara variety of African Violets check out the Holtkemp Greenhouses website and read their history. I believe everything you are asking about can be found on their website under the history section. Another thing to note I'm sure you've seen things for the EverFloris AVs that are created by Optimara they are what is called their Space Violets program from AVs that were taken up into outerspace. There is more information about them on Optimara's website - www.optimara.com/everfloris.html ;)


Basically it's no different than the AVs with names such as "Ma's Melody Girl" , "Buckeye Cranberry Sparkler" , "Rebel's Splatter Kake" , "Lyon's Plum Pudding" and "Rob's Funambule" or the Asian or Russian varieties of African Violets. There are thousands of different African Violet varieties to look at and choose from and to tell you the truth if you do end up getting an African Violet that does not have a tag on it or was improperly tagged trying to find out the actual name of the Violet is just about impossible. You could literally search for days and not find an exact match or several that look almost exactly like what you have.

Also, If you notice each different variety or hybridized African Violet's name begins differently. The reason for this is so that the hybridizer gets recognition for their work. the Ma's in Ma's Melody Girl , the Buckeye in Buckeye's Cranberry Sparkler , the Rebel's in Rebel's Splatter Kake , the Lyon's in Lyon's Plum Pudding and the Rob's in Rob's Funambule are a way to show that each African Violet was bred a.k.a. hybridized by different people and that those specific AVs could be patented and/or registered with the AVSA African Violet Society of America. You can also find out more information about AVs from their website as well www.avsa.org

Hope this helps :)


P.S. If I happen to have left something out or have something wrong please correct me. Thanks

Katie