This has been my first year of serious AV collection and I have discovered several things about me.
1. My collection needs to be manageable. I love to inspect and prune the plants every day. I notice small changes and love to keep notes on what I find.
2. I love to work with mature plants more than raising babies from leaves.
3. I enjoy knowing the whys and wherefores of the plants and trying new things.
4. I am a control freak!!! and this hobby allows me to be as freaky as I want to be.
I know many of you like to raise and share plants. What other things have you discovered about yourselves?
Big Discovery
1. I use to buy just plants get them blooming and give them to people ! I never grew by leaf 6-9 months I was not supose to live that long. Then I fount out I was good at growing by leaf ,( The seller sent me one FREE leaf ) creating life, each new baby amazing me tending it as it grew to a plant , trans-planting it , taking suckers off, grooming it into mature plant with a large bouquet of blossoms, or just full of buds on it's way to Mom-In-Law for Mothers day ! I fount I like having blooming plants to give to friends, neighbors , family and when Mom comes and says whats Alley have blooming today to take to one of her sick friends !
2. I use to be a Jewelry Manager, a Freaky control freak, but now My Life has changed and I am Out of Control . :)) And enjoying every bit of it ! I grew over a Thousand different Varieties of New born Life this year and share the Joy with others ! I learned Life is short and I am glad I'm out of control . lol
3. I love growing New Life from a leaf giving me the ability to share in this Miracle . I also love growing them into Maturity grooming , transplanting, trying new things each day. Now my babies are Mature my Special ones all in bloom ! And I can share leaves with others also.
4. My collection and joy is set up in a manor that is extremly manageable , how else could a disabled person 99 percent Bed bound do all this ( Well with God's Help Wink, Wink :)))
See I'm still a control Freak , I'm still a great Manager . I am in Control of all I do , I have not changed I can still do it all !
Praying I do more next years !
My prayers are with you, too, VT. I can tell you love what you do. Your whole heart and soul is in it. You have touch many lives with not only your violets, but with your positive attitude and sweet joy for life. I am very glad you joined the forum.
1. I never thought I would like to be indoors! I just love to be huddled over those plant lights, looking down into those fuzzy faces.
Very true, Nanna.
(You've got my prayer support, too, Allison.)
Kenton
I love starting leaves - when those mouse ears start to show, I get so excited, and there is something about making more to share that I just love - finding one that I know my purple-freak girlfriend will drool over, or going somewhere for something, and just going for a "quick look" at the AV's, to see if they have any special noids for sale...
-and finding one that I can think of 4 friends who will love that colour-
taking it home and cutting some leaves to start...
but the best, was finding this forum on DG, and realising - these people are even worse than I am - I'm just an amateur!
Happy Holidays, All,
Cheryl
I fount out that this forum has the most caring and sharing people. People willing to give thier last leaf away and their selves. Always here to help each other . I have never met a group of people and I mean a whole " Group " not just one or two people but everyone giving of themselves. I am so glad I fount this forum and DG this year !
Happy New Year the Best Ever for all of us ! Lot's of cheerful sharing and growing of our African violets and their cousin plants. To me sharing is not just giving someone a leaf or plant but helping someone with a growing question, posting your gorgeous pictures, learning pictures of your mouse ears so delightful ! Each part of sharing makes our African violet forum , so full of caring sharers makes it so special !
Happy New Year ! Hope you get dirting everyday ! Happy growing !
Amen, Allison
I love flowers, I get so excited when any of my plants, indoor or outdoor, send up buds/blooms. It is something that I feel I have been able to influence. I am a putterer- ok I know that's not really a word, but it does describe me. AVs allow me to putter, to collect, to show off my flowers and to escape a bad day or blue mood by concentrating on the AVs or smiling at the flowers. I seem to be a collector. When I find a plant that I like I feel the need to get all the other varities- that's why I have the Mexican, Yellow, Red and Pink Pride of Barbados growing in my yard and also why I have 6 varities of Shrimp plants- so AVs fit my personality quirks.
I don't need to have them all and I probably don't want them all. I am sure that there are some I am less interested in, and the plants that I am interested may or may not be considered "desirable" by other collectors. I look for those that appeal to me; sometimes they are NOIDS and sometimes not; yet I have never felt that any one felt there AVs were superior or they were superior because they had this or that. What I have found here are many people who are kind, helpful, warm and genuine.
Also, I'd heard rumors that AV people were crazy- that they collect AVs by the 100s- clearly that rumor is true, so for me it's good to be among the crazies because I feel as though I fit in. All the comments and suggestions that have been made, the threads I've read, etc, have been very helpful and not once have I felt that I was an annoyance or was asking dumb questions. For all of your help and encouragement, thank you more than you can know.
Wishing all of you only the best for this New Year!
April