A girl leaf I love them :))
Boy and Girl type plants
The terms "boy" and :Girl" are often used when discussing African violets. Frequent use of these terms has mislead gardners into beleiving that African violets are either male or femal plants, when in fact most African violets have both the stamens ( male) and pistils ( female) present in every flower. The exception to the rule is the occasional lack of any stamens in African violets that produce double blossoms.
Then to what do these two misleading terms refer if it isn't the sex of the plants ? The words boy and girl describe a difference in the coloration of African violet leaves. Boy type leaves are plain and solid green. Girl-type leaves display a white to yellowish color at the base of the leaf where the stem is attached, and often they have a ruffled leaf edges.
All the leaves of the ten original African violets were entirely green without the slightest trace of other colors. One of the varieties " Blue Boy ," produced a mutation that had the white-to-yellowsih discoloration at the base of the leaf. These unusual African violets were given the name ' Blue Girl.' It was only natural for the plain -leaf vatieties to be called boy-type plants, and those showing the discoloration to be known as girl-type plants.
You should be aware of another term commonly used to describe a plant that has mutated and no longer looks exactly like its parents. When this happens, it is said to have " sported ." One of the best examples of a sport African violet family is the girl-type foliage just discussed.
" This comes from very rare popular book
" African violets
Queens of the Indoor Gardening Kingdom
By Melvin J. Robey
A girl leaf I love them :))
Thanks for the info! I think there's a whole bunch of girl-leafed plants with "Girl" in their names. I have 'Peppermint Girl', and 'Silly Girl', plus several others with this sort of foliage ('Cambridge Missy', 'Madeleine', 'Cloud Puff', 'Kingswood Blue', 'Biscayne Bay').
I'll post pictures of typical "girl" foliage when I get back on the other computer (DH is working from home this morning).
Yes I have several . A person in the forum asked what a girl leaf was so I thought I'd post it just in case other people might wonder. I guess a lot of people wonder if they write up on them in so many books :)) It's neat to know where Girl leaf started. A Sport of Boy Blue !
I did a search on First Class and there were 561 African violets with Girl Foliage and I know there is more than that.
I like my White Butterfly and White Madonna both Vintage. Mini Minx is a tiny mini girl leaf and GREEN :) I really like how Ultra Violet Dusk grows and blooms and Fantasy Red . I have Simplicity , lot's of the Skagit's, Shiawassee trail, Ruth's Girl, Rob's Lillputain, Ramblin' Lassie, Persian Prince, Sassy Shell, Optimara's have a lot of girl leaves. Oh I have My Sue, Little Miss Muffet, littke Bo Pepe, Goldilocks,Honey Blue Angel, Heavenly girl, Fantasy gitl , Electric Cowboy one of my many favorite girl leaves Av's :)) Snoopy Girl, Cloud Puff......... Just a few off the top of my head that I have grown . I'm always looking for more . Yes I like my Madeline by Fay Wagman, and
'Cambridge Missy , I have the Biscayne Trail.
So much Fun ! African violets are :))
I wondered about the differently shaped leaves. Thank you.
I have a Saintpaulia that I think was in the "Ultra" Series and has just begun to bloom. Do you Saintpaulia experts think it would be identifiable?
Trying to keep my "AV" population in control,
K. James
HI James
Your plant sure is beautiful ! It's really hard to ID it without the first name as there are many Ultra Violets. Some of the Ultra violetsin First Class hve Phot's none look like yours and then there are several without Photo's. A lot of plants don't get registered.
I have not learned how to contraol my African violet population lol
One leaf down 3,5 maybe 6 or more babies :)) I keep them all that are healthy and strong to share with others.
But I did notice you said trying ?? lol Good Luck !
Allison
Thank you.
While I have a hold of you and your expertise, I (as a meddling African Violet grower, I hope) would like to ask if all cultivars of Saintpaulia will come true to name via leaf cutting propagation. I know that many plants who are sports or mutants, when leaf-propagated, will revert.
And have you or anyone ever had a leaf (detached, and yet unrooted) bloom? I had a leaf in soil to be cloned, and to my suprise, it did not grow a rosette, but a 2-3 bloom infloresence. each flower lasted a ridiculous amount of time. When they finished, the normal process resumed as small plant formed at the buried petiole. I don't now if I have a picture of that strange business.
And also, did anyone else shoppng at a [Kroger/King Supers/City Market] buy a gob of violets that were 4 for $5 last summer? They were packaged "Anthoflores(R) Product of Canada"
I have a few of the girl leaf varieties and like them fine but they are the dickens to grow...lol
The either get bunchy and won't bloom or just kinda sit there. Not really my cup of tea, but maybe as I learn more about their habits then they will florish and so will my love for them.
I do like a few I have... one from CriterO which is the Cambridge Missy and another is a Opti NOID. It's a small standard and so far holding it's shape. It has the real crinkled edged leaves and I like those.
I have a few trailers too. Those seem to do beter cause they just go every which away anyhow.:)
MsC
We were posting at the same time... welcome JamesCO!
I did not find any here with that name but I found plenty of Optimara Noids at Krogers. All beautiful and keepers for sure.
Show us some of your pics please!
MsC
Thank you for the Welcome.
Let me collect some photos...
From that purchase, I picked up some awfully odd ones. One, I recall, was a deep purple-red-black with such ruffled flowers they looked like balls. One had big blueish flowers, one was near-red, and I think I went after some bicolors. I am eagerly watching the buds acsend from the rosettes... (I mistreated them over the summer, when I'm rarely indoors.)
Hi James
Anthoflores plants are wonderful. And most seem really hard to find. Your lucky if you got a bunch ! Ultra Violets I like a lot too and I see a lot of them are being bought in the stores also. This is great ! I'd like to see them in stores every where. I don't get into the stores just from what others tell me or post but I can dream and Visualize being there buying them !
I have had leaves put down bloom ! before growing to a plant. One of my nurses gave me pictures of her's that did. I gave her a lot of leaves as she wanted to learn how to grow Av's. She brings them to visit me and takes pictures.
It does seem a lot of plants can Sport. Fantasy blooms do often. Sometimes I get blooms I enjoy even better. I think it's fun when they Sport I like surprises. Chimera African violet plants and not be grown true by leaf in most cases. They need to propagated by sucker , or leaves of baby grown on a bloom stalk. I have one now that has the cutest plants growing on the bloom stalks I think I'll see how big they get as their still blooming and then grow new Chimera plants with them. It's a trailer I have been blessed with two different trailing Chimeras. They are also trailing so I can take a couple of their suckers and grow new plants with them also.
Looked like in one of your Photo's some girl leaves ! Jill is going to post some photo's of some girl leaves.
I grow mine in natural light or at the end of the light tubes they grow in nice fashion this way. But the trailing ones MsC are the best your right. I like the trailing ones periods. I like my plants to grow any which way they want. Except if your showing them . Allison
Welcome James. We're very happy you have joined us.
I recently purchased a "Cambridge Missy" and it was very over grown. It's blooming like crazy but I can't get the leaves under control. It was grown in very crowded surroundings and the leaves go every which way. That, along with the tendencies of girl leaves to bunch has given me a challenge. It's good to know MsC that eventually it will work out.
I was reading in Rob's site about girl leaves, crinkle and wavey leaves and their tendency to bunch up. His suggestion was to keep the outer row of leaves trimmed and at times thin the crown. I tried it with three of the Optimira's I have and it seemed to work. The blooms were able to push their way through the leaves.
James, about coming true to name leaf: I understand that single color avs are more likely to remain true, but the multicolored blooms are more unstable. The more vibrant colors tend to have a birth mark on the leaf. The birth mark is a patch or patching of red on the underneath of the leaf. This information was also found in Rob's Violet Barn. www.violetbarn.com Culture Corner. Propogation is more true with succors than with leave. This is especially true with the chimira bloom. Also, environment has a great deal to do with colors remaining true, especially with thin edged blooms. I think they are called Geneva blooms.
Nanna
Nanna
Your could take leaves off of your girl plants to make them grow nicer and put them down for new plants ! Cambridge Missy" is a bautiful Miniature so this makes it more easier for the leaves to bunch and go crazy. Did it come with one crown ? Taking suckers off and the leaves like Rob mentioned and growing them in natural light or end of light tube helps.
Thanks for the suggestions V-T
It only has one crown and the leaves, as I said are facing left, right, upside, downside, you name it, they are facing that way. I have trimming it back drasticly and am waiting for new growth to grow normally. Because the plant was grown in a very crowded area before I bought it, the leaves went in what ever direction they had to in order to get light. Succors were not the problem. I think it was simply lack of care because of the many plants at the nursery. Time will do the trick. The blooms were what attracted me to the plant and the fact that it was a semi mini with girl leaves.
Nanna
Thanks for the reminder!
Here's 'Madeleine', a miniature with girl foliage. You can definitely see the contrasting lighter center/base of the leaf with these dark green leaves.
And here's 'Peppermint Girl', another miniature. It's larger now, but this picture really showed the scalloped edge that's typical of girl leaves. Girl foliage seems to come in light green or dark green depending on the variety.... at least, my plants show a range of foliage color, and they all appear healthy.
BTW, my 'Cambridge Missy' plants from VG (somehow I ended up with 2 pots) both had big suckers adding to the confusion of their leaves. I separated one successfully (it went to MsC), but I ended up with a big handful of leaves when I tried to separate the other. I also removed some of the more crazily oriented leaves, and the remaining ones seem to be straightening out as they grow.
Here's a tray of "girl foliage" AVs from The Violet Gallery.
Top row: 'Kingswood Blue', 'Biscayne Trail', 'Sure to Please'
Bottom row: 'Madeleine, 'Rob's Ragamuffin', 'Cambridge Missy', 'Baby Jay'
I included 'Baby Jay' in this shot even thought it's not "officially" listed as having "girl foliage." Perhaps the leaves are considered too pointed for this classification, but they do have some scalloping as well as the slightly cupped shape and lighter base/center marking.
Your 'Peppermint Girl' is so cute. She's a little one ! Did you grow her by leaf. I always thought Baby Jay looked like girl leaf. I have had other plants where the description did not say girl leaf and they were.
I have a few with the variegated girl leaves also.
LITTLE JAYHAWKER is a nice one with girl leaves too.
All your girl leaf plants are very pretty ! Thanks for sharing, Allison
That's the size that 'Peppermint Girl' was when Rob's sent her to me. The plants from Rob's were all very healthy and perfectly packed for shipping, but I think other sources (like the Violet Gallery) tend to send larger plants for the same money. She's bigger now! :-)
Oh well she is so cute and prettiest blooms. And yes I understand I have ordered from Rob's and Violet Gallery too.
Hey James... Aha! LOL You would like to go to Violet Showcase, then! :)
Yes, I'm very curious about trying to grow some from a bloom stalk. As a side note, I read on the AVSA site that if you are trying to propagate a chimera from a bloom stalk you need to be sure that the flower on that stalk are not "sport-ified" ;) That's my own fancy technical term :)... so, make sure you choose the stalk that has the flowers that have the profile you're going for. Also, I read that stress will cause them to sport. It makes sense... if they're under stress, they'd be more likely to revert to a more stable genetic state.
Since I changed my major at school... I now I have the option of taking either Human Anatomy & Physiology -or- PLANT PHYSIOLOGY!!! :) Gee, guess which one I'm after... ;) It'll be so fun and useful to finally understand the method behind the madness when it comes to fertilizers and such... I'll not feel so bad for having 4 different varieties of fertilizer to cater to "everyone". :)
Critter- I MISS YOU! :) I got so spoiled last week when we were talking so much, I feel like I haven't talked to you in AGES! :) Hope to see you in chat tonight!
Allison- I'm sorry I haven't sent you money yet... I'm thinking I will be able to on the first... please let me know if this is too late and I'll try to wrangle it out of the budget somewhere else. :)
Sarah
Edited to add: Yes, I forgot to mention that I also got the Violets from King Soopers this summer. I think I got 5, but that was a huge improvement over the *2* I had before that! lol :) I got the unnamed optimara's. :) I got a sooo cool bicolor... I'm working on babies now, hopefully I'll have some for the exchange :) And, I'd love to post pictures, but (dummy) me, I forgot to take them before I chopped off all the blooms and pressed them in a textbook! lol oops :)
Sarah
This message was edited Nov 22, 2005 9:36 AM
Sarah,
It's never too late. Their waiting for you. If my income was not SSD and so low I'd ship free to everyone. I love sharing my AV babies. I take pride in packing a good box full ! I will also be trying to send everyone different ones so if you trade you won't have the same . I like to send Trailers, Standards, Mini's, Wasp, Semi's, just a good variety.
Allison
Allison, you have the perfect handle. You certainly are a treasure!!!
Nanna
Thanks, Allison.... I'm actually hoping to trade some things of mine, and some things from my grandma's house (gessie Heaven, aside from Keyring's house, of course ;). So, whoever gets me will be getting some very cool things! :)
Sarah
ME too :)) lol I send great boxes for postage but my Secret Easter Bunny swap box will be extra special. Who ever gets me will be really lucky :)) Wink Wink lol. No really it'a true ! That box will be extra special.
This message was edited Nov 22, 2005 12:35 PM
I rolled one of DH's 12 sided gaming dice to determine who gets Allison's box... The first time, it actually came out to be me, but I knew nobody would believe that was random, so I rolled again! It's going to a very nice person, but that's all I'm telling.... of course, you know all of you qualify as "very nice," LOL!
Allison, I'm surely hoping you and I can arrange a spring trade.... I will make another trip to the Violet Gallery if necessary to get something you don't already have! (You know I'm just looking for an excuse to go there again.) They had 'Little Jayhawker' in their catalog, but they were out of stock when we were there, so that one is on my list for next time... I didn't know if you had that one already, or if you were just commenting about it.... ?
Jill
I did a trade one time couple years ago one of my first trades. We were trading at the time for one of every baby plant we had and every set of leaves, Streps everything. Well the girl was honest Thank God and said she had , had mites she thought they were gone had treated with AdVid but was not sure. I had many plants and Streps she wanted and I really wanted her to have them ! So I told her to send me just leaves and I would send her plants and leaves.
Do you know we each sent each other 70 different kinds of Av's/plants. Leaf bags had two or more. I treated each leaf and isolated them never had a problem but I am glad she was honest the only way to be !
Do you know we got no doubles ! I don't mine doubles either . Secret trades to me are so much fun. I enjoy them best not knowing what I am getting. Like you say I'll send you 15 plants and ten kinds of leaves each bag with 2 or more. It's so much fun.
Last summer ( I was bad ) I bought a rare trailing Chimera. I had wanted one so bad. I had bought one a different one for a gift for a friend but never one for myself. Well I paid $ 52.00 for it plus shipping from Canada. It was not package well almost dead. I got it in Sept. I waited for it to cool down. It was almost dead missing all but 4 leaves, out of the pot, dried up covered in dirt. I saved it !Now It'sGrown hugh, many suckers, trailing babies, and a few babies on the bloom stalks not just leaves babies ! It has been in full bloom and I mean full over a month with new stalks each day. Soon it will go into a pan pot when it stops blooming ( if it ever does) and a few suckers will be plants,and go in their own pots, and the babies on bloom stalks will be rooted just like suckers so I will have some to share ! I want to put one in my secret swap box as it is special and I want to share it not many people get a chance to have one like this. Vintage trialing Standard trailer ! My friend who I bought her trailer. I bought her Chimera Hawaiian Trail ! She sent me a tiny, tiny unrooted sucker from Canada. It is doing great ! It went from it's 1 3/4 "pot to 2" last week. I got it in Sept. So now I have two trailing Chimeras.
I'd love to do a trade Jill :!! Oh I think last month I got 14 plants, and 6 sets leaves from Violet Gallery and when their 2006 book comes out I am putting my order in ASP. Their shipping was not high either :))
This message was edited Nov 22, 2005 1:21 PM
Wow! What fun!
I think "70 different kinds" is my current total, and that includes 15 noids.... So unless they're all able to donate leaves simultaneously, probably our trade will be a *little* smaller than that, LOL.
Well, when you start thinking about the Violet Gallery, remember that I'll be happy to do a little shopping for you in the spring... I did the same for MsC on our last trip, packing her VG plants in with the ones I had for her, and it worked out fine!
I've put down a bunch of leaves, so I'm hoping to have lots of plantlets for everyone in the spring. I haven't really been keeping track of the numbers.... I know it's 3 1020 trays downstairs, but there are a few suckers & crowns rooting in those trays as well, plus I have a dozen other leaves in the upstairs terrarium that have already produced little plantlets.
Sarah, I'll be in the chat room tonight, and if you want to "meet" there earlier than the appointed hour, just LMK. DH is working late tonight and having dinner at the office. But he's taking the rest of the week off! Yay! And he has to take 2 weeks off at Christmas, because he has maxed out the number of vacation hours he can "bank" for future use. Double yay!!
Hmmm.... what was this thread about originally?? Oh yeah -- girl leaves!!
Here's one more, 'Smitten Kitten'. The leaves on mine seem to have smoother edges than on the photo on the Violet Gallery's web site.... I don't know if mine has reverted, or if growing conditions can also affect leaf shape. Regardless, it's adorable!
It's beautiful.
Hope my secret swapper has one that pretty.
Nanna
Nanna, you can keep 'Smitten Kitten' on your EB wish list or not... I've put down leaves, and you've got first dibs on a plantlet from them.
The one 'Smitten Kitten' plantlet I have already has Dana's name on it -- I didn't forget! I didn't forget about 'Twinkle Blue', either, but I'm trying to start another leaf from it since my lone plantlet died before I could send it to either Dana or MsC.
Edited to add link to the VG catalog picture of 'Smitten Kitten', which has somewhat different foliage shape: http://www.violetgallery.com/html%20pics/minis/smittenkitten.html
This message was edited Nov 22, 2005 6:08 PM
Hi
I started a new one this this Shopping at Violet Gallery and Trading :))
Allison
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/558365/
Thanks Jill!!!
Nanna
Thanks Begonia sounds like were all growing some beautiful Girl foliage plants for Spring sharing and trading :))
MS Critter
Your Smitten Kitten is beautiful! So cute.
Great info Allison
And PLEASE DO post them critter...I LOVE girl foliage!
I posted Wonderous Girl she's a mini girl but her blossoms hide her pretty girl foliage. I have several girl leaf plants, mostly all minis/semis a few standard ones. I like them all.
Wonderous girl again :)) She's a darl !
They are ALL gorgeous Allison!
You got me chomping at the bit for spring!
I've been working with this plant for a couple of months. It was an unwatered lost soul on the HD mark down rack. I took it from the 4 inch pot, trimmed it down, and put it in a two inch pot. It has revived well and is sending up bloom stalks. Looks like they may be a deep purple. I bought it because the leaves were so beautiful.
Nanna wow gorgeous ! It does look like a girl leaf !
Anyone have any idea the name of this treasure?
Oh wow Nanna..that is GORGEOUS!