Great plants from Rob's Violet Barn!

I placed my first-ever order with www.violetbarn.com and am very pleasantly surprised with everything I got! Thought I'd share pictures of them. :o)

Petrocosmea forrestii - What a cute, furry, petable plant! LOL

I've already repotted the Petrocosmeas, but wanted to show pictures of them when they arrived. I was expecting very small plants, but they're nice-sized and have a pretty good root system, too.

Petrocosmea HT-2

Sorry about the weird lighting. I thought beneath my under-cabinet lights would be a good spot with some extra light, but it just makes them look a bit strange. I'll not do that again. ;o)

Petrocosmea rosettifolia

How exciting Amy, cute little guys

Aeschynanthus humilis It was blooming when it arrived! Has more buds, too, so I'm anxious to watch them grow and open.

Thank you, Susan! I'm hoping the mistakes I made with my first Pet. will have taught me how to keep these happy and growing. :o) Naturally, when I repotted them, I broke off some leaves. I put those down to root.

Nematanthus tessmanii - I love the texture of the leaves and the red petioles!

I managed to find the dog, Lucy, so I got a free plant! :o) Tricantha citrina (apparently also known as Columnea citrina) It's got red on the undersides of the leaves so when you look up at it towards light, the red just glows! I hope mine looks like this someday: http://www.dollyyeh.idv.tw/Columnea_citrina.jpg

Here's mine now.

Columnea schiedeana - This will have beautiful flowers. https://www.violetbarn.com/col_scheideana.htm

A bit young for those flowers just yet, though. :o)

Columnea kewensis - I love the color in the leaves of this one.

And finally, Columnea 'Broget Stavanger'. How could I resist??

Wow! Amy, you really got very nice, healthy plants from Rob's. I have ordered from them 3 times and some have been good and other's real tiny. I am loving those Petrocosmea's. I just have the one but might just have to try a couple more. I love that one called Tricantha! Have never heard of that one before and love the leaves! That Columnea is gonna be a knockout too with those flowers!


..... now I gotta try, try to keep my fingers from typing www.robsviolet.com


Uh Oh! You gave a link at the top of your thread!

great selection, Amy...................................I love Rob's Violet Barn.......................you and I will have a good time later when they are bigger exchanging leaves............I didn't order one thing that you did...............which is great.................

Thanks, Lin! I'd never heard of the Tricantha before, so was very pleasantly surprised to find it in the box. I don't see that it's listed on his site, either.

I'm so hoping I do well with these Petrocosmeas. After taking the one Nancy sent me to the brink of death, and then bringing it back again, surely I learned something! LOL Here's a picture of that one I almost killed. It's doing better now. ;o)

Wonderful, Gail!! Lots of new stuff for both of us! :o)

Oh Wow! I think I saw that photo on your pixamo site! I love it! Sure hope I can get the one I have Petro 'barbata' to bloom. It's in a vase and I think I need to repot it ...it's awfully crowded. The center of the plant looks real tight too but I guess that is normal?

Do you put a lid or saran wrap on that glass container, Amy?

Yep, it's normal for them to look tight and furry in the middle. I had saran wrap over it for the longest, but since it's gotten so big, I took that off to get it used to having less humidity. I repotted it last night. No small feat, considering that the plant is bigger than the mouth of that glass! LOL I have no idea how it will do now that it's repotted, but I'm trying it not covered. If it starts to look bad, I'll come up with a jar or vase or something to put it in.

Yeah, I think I need to get the Pet. barbata into a different container. I am gonna try to be very gentle, but have a feeling a few leaves will be left behind and I will try to root them!

I broke a few off this one, but thankfully they were only the older leaves which were a bit floppy and looked worn out. I didn't put any down because of that. I'll give it a bit to settle in and will snip off a few to put down.

I didn't put any of mine from Rob's under glass????????????

You don't have to, Gail. I think Lin was actually asking about the Petrocosmea momo that I posted a picture of in bloom. It's the little one I almost killed, and covering it is what helped me save it.

Ok.............thanks

Pretty much anything that starts looking bad gets shoved into a plastic bag. More times than not, it saves them.

I kept them in bio domes for a long time and it did not help..................jan says a lot of people just start over with sticking leaves or whatever is left at the end of the summer and start a new collection for the next spring..............

Rain, you have a dmail and i need help, por favor...........

Karen said she started an Episcia from a leaf. If I remember correctly, she said it takes quite a while to see anything from it, but it does work. I tried to root a leaf of 'Seafoam' but it was too far gone...

For those who are confused, we began a conversation about Episcias elsewhere and have ended up carrying it over here. LOL

I replied to your dmail. :o)

Hi Amy!!! ~~~~~~~~~ (waving)

Nice photos (as always), and nice order from Rob's! If everything in my life ever settles down, I have a nice big wishlist I want to order from him too.

Hope you are feeling better!

Hi Karen! (waving back!)

I wish he'd quit posting new and neat things on that Special Offers page! LOL I can deal with looking at what's on his pages, but those specials just scream, "Better get me before I'm gone!!" LOL

I hope things are going well for you. Don't hold your breath for things settling down, but I bet you'll get the upperhand on all of it before long. Hugs to you!

Hi Amy!!!(GRIN) LOL

Your new babies are really very nice! I saw the Petrocosmeas on Rob's site and they look like a plant I might like to try someday. For now, I'll see how well I do with my episcias over the winter. Columneas and violets are easy for me, thank God. Violets are probably the most forgiving out of the 3 I named!

Anyway, congrats on your new haul!

Hi GrowHappy! ;o)

I had a way-steep learning curve with those Pets. I'm hoping it's all figured out now, but only time will tell. I put down leaves of all, just in case. Should be right around "someday" that I'll have babies of them to share. ;o)

AVs are by far the most difficult of the Gessies for me. Blasted things have issues no matter what I do. I'm still trying, though. I've about decided to do just the opposite of everything I've been doing and see how they do that way. LOL Dig up some dirt out of the yard to pot them in, not give them much light, and keep them either soggy or bone dry. That'll teach 'em! LOL

What a wonderful variety of plants you picked out Rain, I really like the Petrocosmea's, the way they grow in little rosettes just attracts me and then blooms to boot!

~Brenda

Rain..............I have been afraid to stick a leaf from mine until they get bigger...............

I accidentally broke those off when I was repotting the plants, so I put them down to root. No point in wasting them! ;o)

Ooo, I just placed an order from them as well, and it should actually arrive tomorrow or Friday! I'm very excited to get that box... everything I've read about them online has been so positive that I have very high expectations!

I ordered a miniature violet ("Rob's Twinkle Blue", because it is a teeny weeny micromini, and I adore teeny weeny micromini things - plus, that means I have room to fit more, right? RIGHT???), a standard violet ("Rebel's Night Breezes", because the flowers are just about exactly my favorite shape/type/color - dark blue single/semidouble stars with prominent Geneva edges), an Episcia ("Faded Jade", because I've read that it's a very typical/classic "flame violet", and this will be the first one I've ever grown or possibly even ever seen, so I thought it would give me a good idea of what they're like), a Streptocarpus ("Bristol's Bluebird", because it was so pretty on their site and described as an easy bloomer - this will also be my first Strep ever), and a Petrocosmea (P. forresti, because it was ALMOST as cute as P. rosettifolia, but less expensive, so I will feel slightly less bad if I can't keep him alive, and if he does fabulous, I can always get a leaf of rosettifolia from one of you guys, right...? heehee!). I also found Lucy on their site, so I will also be getting a free surprise plant (hopefully from my list of approved substitutes), and I really can't wait to see what they chose.

*hopping up and down from foot to foot in impatience*

Oh, I'm excited for you, herbivore!! Isn't it great anticipating the arrival of a box of new plants?? You ordered some really good ones!

Of course you can get a leaf of rosettifolia from one of us! I actually sent my order list to a couple of members here before I placed the order to be sure that I was ordering different things than they had. Seems to me that if we all order different stuff, grow it out for a bit, and then share, we get waaay more for our money! :o)

Please post pictures of your plants when they arrive! I'd love to see them! :o)

Well now...I see I missed another thread! Better go check and see how many more I missed.LOL..I just can't keep up with you all around here anymore.Nice selection of plants Amy!!

They're here!!!

Man, it's killin' me not having a camera. They're very cute. I cannot even believe how symmetrical and adorable the Petrocosmea is - it's like a fuzzy flat Sempervivum. The mini violet is also making me swoon with how tiny the leaves are - it has 3 rows of leaves and doesn't even reach the full width of the 2" cup it's in! Except for the Petrocosmea, which I think is always small (yes? no?) and seems pretty filled in and established, the plants are all little babies, with only 2 or 3 pairs/rows of leaves each, and none are in bud/bloom, but that's OK. I'm surprised by how large the Episcia leaves are - I wasn't expecting that! My free plant is "Opera's Renee", which wasn't on my substitution list (partly because it's not listed on their site), but I looked it up and it shares a lot of attributes with things I did have on the list - single/semidouble blue-to-lavender/white bicolor flowers. Two leaves broke off of the Renee, which I am going to try to root, but there was no damage to any of the other plants.

I can't wait for these to grow and bloom! :) :) )

please be sure to post your happiness on Gardenwatch..........sometimes Rob takes a bum rap for small plants and I think he is the best grower along with LL.

Nice Pets there, Raingazer! Would you believe I have never grown one? I have 3 leaves from Cedarnest so I will one of these days. They are darling.

Herbivore - Isn't that Twinkle Blue the cutest perfect tiny miniature?

I might as well share what arrived in the mail for me today from Lyon's. Mostly chiritas this time. I am so pleased with these very well grown healthy plants.

From L-R and Top to Bottom:

Row 1: Columnea 'Broget Stavenger', Ch.'Chastity', Ch.sinesis 'Silver', Ch.longgangensis, Ch.sinesis dwarf.

Row2: Ch. Eburnia Blue (with buds), Ch. 'Nimbus', USBRG 98-03, Ch. 'Piccolo'.

Row 3:Ch. linearifolia, koleria 'Cinnamon Toast', Ch. 'Souvenir', Ch.'Blue Moon' in bud

Today was better than Christmas with the arrival of these along with some wonderful trade boxes. My house is a huge mess but I am wallowing in happiness.

Close up of Chirita sinesis 'Silver'. I love the patterned furry leaves.

Those are big big healthy chiritas............snow................no wonder you are in 'happy land'...................thanks for posting...............hmmmmmmmmm do I need to order from LL?
NO>........I am going to two shows.............have to wait..........

I have always liked Lyon's so much.

On page 29 of the Sept/Oct AV mag is a great pic of Petrocosmea minor.