Turning Winter Blahs into Ahs

Well its been so unbearably cold and snowy here.Was really getting the blahs... so I went on Ebay last week and bought a new av.Like we need a reason right?? LOL The seller really knew how to pack em'.Wish my old camera would take better pictures though.This is Rob's Neat Nellie fresh out of the shipping box.With the air temp outside holding at -10 degrees this sure was a pretty site too see.Full Bloom and Not Even a Broken Leaf. Sure was a nice pick me up : ) If anyone else has any blooming beauties to post Please do.I Love seeing all the blooms! It makes it feel like spring : )
Nancy

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 1:15 PM

These are the other 3 I have blooming right now.Ness Dream Maker Chimera on the left and the other 2 are ones I received of my Aunts after she passed away.She never kept tags or records but they both look Chimera to me too??.I think even without names they are very pretty : )

Beautiful ! Looks like you have some pretty Chimeras there !!

Nancy,
Those are so pretty. Thanks for the "breath" of spring!
Laura

Thatnks for the compliments Allison and Laura.It really made my day : ) I love seeing everyones pictures so much and sharing pics of some of mine with everyone : )
Nancy

Nancy, your new plant looks very pretty. Which ebayer did you get it from. I got a nice one from a lady in colorado - dstech is her name.

And I love those chimeras. I can't wait to get one of those. I want to order it from violetbarn but I'm afraid they won't make it here with standard delivery and I don't want to pay for express delivery.

I'll have to wait till we are in the 40's before I take a chance. Maybe next month or 2.

I'm getting the winter blahs too. I'm so lazy, all I do is hang out on the computer. I'm longing to be in the green, growing garden. Your plant must have been such a nice sight for your eyes:-)
Enjoy.

Thank You Maureen! : ) Yes it did wonders for my Blahs.Its amazing how something like a few blooms can cheer me up.LOL I'm going to have to check your seller out.The seller I purchased from was Barbsviolets. This was the first I had ever ordered from her.I am so pleased with the large plant size and quality and very impressed by the way she ships that I will definitely buy from her again.She also sent me a free bonus plant of Ness Blueberry Puff and it is in perfect shape too.Only has 2 buds open so far.Can't wait to see it in full bloom.
I can see your point of wanting to wait to order until Rob's shipping goes back down for normal delivery.Thats what I am waiting for too so I can use the Gift Cert hubby gave me for Christmas.I am going to try and pick up a couple more Chimeras from Rob's too.
Nancy

Edited to add the correct sellers name : )

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 4:37 PM

Love 'Robs Neat Nellie' .... sooo pretty! Nice Chimeras too!

I just received an order from Bluebirds Greenhouse today. It's my second time ordering from them. Got an e-mail Monday that it was in the mail and it came today. I was a bit disappointed ... seemed to be packed well, but when I opened the papers they were wrapped in 3 plants had leaves broken, and one with 2 leaves broken off. I can't wait for the AV Evergrace to bloom! It has one little bloom stalk on it, so hopefully I will get to see it soon. The other's I got are AV 'Sonoma Ringo' and I got a Chirita 'Kazu'. They sent me another free plant, Chirita 'Stardust' (had one, now I have two of this plant)! Here's a photo of my indoor stand with some bloomers:

And ... a close up of a few of them:

Beautiful Lin !
I got a beautiful large pot of blooming Tulips for Valentines day ! The prettiest colors. They look like they are dancing to steps of " Spring" :))
I got a nice heart ofr of yummy choclates too !

Oh Lin I am in Awe! You have some of the prettiest plants I have ever seen...and.....so many of them!! Beautiful Stand Too. That little red bird on that one shelf looks like he's singing up a storm : ) Thanks For Sharing!!
Too bad about your plants from Bluebird.A Person always expects better when they are coming from a greenhouse.I would have been a little upset too.Oh But Not To Worry...With your Green Thumb They Will Be Huge and Blooming In No Time : ) Thanks for the nice compliments : )
Nancy

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 5:16 PM

Oh Allison! My Dear Hubby gave me White Roses and a box of Chocolates ....

Will you plant your Tulips in the ground? Will they grow here in Florida? A few years ago I bought some bulbs and forced them in a vase of water ... they were so Beautiful ... Pink Tulips! My little sister in North Georgia has the most beautiful grounds at her house, Hundreds of Tulips, Daffodils and other stuff blooming every spring ... a sight to see!

Here's a photo of the Tulips I grew in water a couple of years ago:

Thank You too Nancy .... my stand is one of Wal-Marts $29.96 deals. I saw someone else's post a couple of months ago and went right to Wal Mart and bought one. The shop lights are $7.96 each. So much cheaper than buying a plant/grow stand from one of the major companys or on line! I just used my cloth covered craft wire to wire the lights up. I keep saying I'm gonna go get another stand because this one is too crowded!

Oh yes we can grow Tulips outside have before ! Their pink ones, yellow and pink and red and white strip ones ! With pretty pink foil with heart around the pot. Most times I get rose bushes. Last year I got a tall yellow rose tree and some other stuff so this was different surprise !

Oh so many pretties! Makes me smile:)

I only have a few blooming at my house.

Strep Jason

Rob's Vanilla Trail.I love his plants.

Happy Valentines Day ladies.

Jan,Jason is Gorgeous as is Vanilla Trail. Oh I Love Seeing All Of The Pretties : )
Happy Valentines Day!! .Seeing All Of The Blooms Has Sure Made My Valentines Day Sweeter : )
Nancy

Nice Jannich! Wow ... that Strep Jason sure has HUGE leaves!! I got one strep in an order from Robs a couple of months ago, but it was REAL tiny, just one leaf stalk sticking out of the soil ... and it died! My first and only Strep ... I had no idea the leaves got so big!! Do all Strep's have those huge leaves? The flower is so pretty ... or maybe I should say Handsome, since the name is Jason. Love Robs Vanilla Trail too ... nice Teacup & Doily to show it off too! I love seeing everyone's photo's and always nice to see the cute little pots and how they are posed. Allison has some cute pots and nice doilies too!

Allison, those Tulips must be Gorgeous! Can you post a photo for us? The colors sound luscious! Oh, your DH is so smart, giving you a gift that keeps on giving. You can plant it in the garden and enjoy it year after year! I have been married for 37 1/2 years and still HAVEN'T seemed to train my DH to give me a plant with roots, LOL. But, he was still a sweetie and surprised me with white roses and a beautiful card and a box of chocolates!

Thank you,Jason is awesome.Allison gave me that plant last summer.So all the credit goes to her for growing it .I'm just a step Mom:)

Lin,Thanks.I have 3 strep and there all big leaves like that.But I read somewhere you can just trim the leaves if there to large or in the way.I'm growing some hybrid streps from seeds.I'm going to need a home for a few but they need to get bigger.I haven't forgot you:)

Tulips,chocolates,and roses.Can't get any better than that:)

Cedarnest, this is gail......I didn't know you had violets!!! (LOL) those are wonderful....I would love to get into Streps...

Hi Gail,Thank You. Oh Yes I have a few AV'S...LOL I also have a few streps. Hmmm I sense a trade coming on..: )

I had a big order from Rob's turned in.....then when I wanted to change the big order.....somehow he just emailed 'order cancelled'....I had 10 streps coming along with the order. It was my fault....not his....that it got cancelled....Allison has told me what a chimera is, but I don't really get it.....except one of the ones you liked of mine is a dark pink with purple dots on the flower.....I got several of those.....in essence, I need to study the info Allison is nice enough to send me....can't comprehend all this at once...

I'm not an expert by any means,just a rookie LOL... but I think the one with specks on the blooms is a fantasy bloom? Hope someone who really knows will jump in here.You should post that pic on here Gail.Its really pretty.

OK.....I will post and see if someone knows....

Violet Barns Streps and most other plants are shipped small but they do state that but sometimes hard for the novice.
I grew Jason by leaf and so Happy to see him Jan !!!! He is beautiful ! Maybe in Spring you could share me a pice of his leaf. I just love growing them by leaf !
I'd like to get a few Streps for Spring but I would buy them from Gary out of Africa . He is in Garden watch. But I do like growing them by leaf they grow fast and bloom fast . I don't even care what their names are.
Lin Strep leaves are all different sizes. Some compace. Nice thing is you can cut/trim the leaves to any size you want them. They are great for hanging baskets too !
Their flowers remind of Orchids !
Excellent growing Jan !

Gee, thanks Allison, to the rescue....I will go to Gary out of African....I will look in Garden watch for the site....I will look for some good ones (unless you want to tell me Allison) LOL

Jannich: Where do you buy seeds? Or do your plants produce the seeds? Are they quick to germinate?

Bettygail: Whatever the name of your AV is ... I LOVE it .... very pretty. ''

Allison: If you trim the leaves, cut them, do they turn brown where you cut them? And, how do you know which ones have those huge leaves and which ones are more compact? I think I need to give Streps a try one more time, at least try one. The flowers are so pretty, they do sorta resemble orchids, don't they?

Beautiful Bettygail ! Is it an optimara ? If so one of their fantasy bloomers !!

It has no name...............all of these that I have came from Walmart or Lowes.....tee hee.....we just wondered what those tiny purple dots mean.....

Allison, what is the name of the guy Gary's site? You say he is in Africa? Is shipping really expensive from Africa? I guess I will go check out Garden Watchdog to see if I can find him.






Yeah, a lot of us can't wait for Spring Trading to begin!

Allison...whatever you posted is beautiful....the flowers are ruffled.....what is it??? surely yours has a name...mine isn't nearly as pretty as this one

So ... Bettygail's AV is called a "Fantasy" ? I will have to be on the outlook for one of those. I have seen the ones you call Chimeras at Wal-Mart, but nothing like that Fantasy. And our Home Depot and Lowes have nothing in the way of AV's.

Lin, I talked to the buyer of AV's at Lowes day before yesterday in person....she remembered that I had called and ask her to order unusual AVs.....so, when I talked to her that day, she said she had ordered from Optimara this time hoping to get what i had asked for....including chimeras...the other grower they use is Aldershots out of Mesilla park, NM....that is where I found the 'fantasy' one. I went to Aldershot's website and got the telephone number....if thenew order doesn't have good things,I am going to call and ask them if they ship (they are associated with NM State which has a fabulous hort dept)

Thanks Allison for verifying it as a fantasy bloom.I am still not sure of all the different terms.I still have a long long way to go.It is sure fun learning though! I have a few others with blooms like that and I just love them.Gail even though it is an unnamed one it is still really pretty.I have found they are sometimes prettier than some named ones.As long as its pretty I don't care if its a registerd named one or not.Pretty Is Pretty Right" LOL

all you pros out there....I am afraid to change the 3" pot on all these i have gotten as they look so good and are growing great just watering from the bottom. I ordered so many of these purple and white pots for violets......do I really need to use them???

Thanks for posting that info Bettygail! I will have to check out Aldershots website. Our Wal-Mart carries Optimara and some others that just give the nursery in Florida where they are grown, but no other info. I found one last week at Home Depot that just said it was grown in Canada! That one is the one I think Allison said looks like 'Roccoco Pink' .... so I researched and it looks exactly like the photo I saw of Roccoco Pink. I don't know if that is Optimara or who, but I am like Allison. I don't really care if it's a named, registered plant. If it catches my eye, it's usually because I think it's pretty and I have to buy it!

Allison ... Yes! PRETTY is PRETTY! I totally agree!

Aren't those the little self watering pots that Robs or Bluebird .... someone sells? I know I saw them at one of the websites when I ordered the little green plastic pots!

yes and I don't know if I even need them....they came from Charley's Greenhouses.....should I use them? Our Walmart is getting all theirs from Aldershot's...a wholesale grower....Lowes takes turns with Aldershots and Optimara.....

Sorry here is Garys web sight !
http://www.garys-out-of-africa.com/
I would recommend ordering his choise to start with and get good size plants
he lives in USA and u can email him too
Please read this !! Its the best'
Discovering Streptocarpus"
http://www.robsviolet.com/streptocarpus1.htm

Thanks Allison!