My African Queen (African Violet)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	African Violet
Date:	19/02/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good old faithful plant

Disadvantages: None

Lets step back in time, maybe twenty years ago when African violets were the `in` plant and nearly every household had one sitting on their windowsill.
An aunt of mine considered herself a specialist in the field! I used to be invited to share a pot of her strong tea and partake of an intellectual conversation about the life of an African Violet!
In all fairness she grew beauties, she had the right colour fingers when it came down to it. Her windowsills were awash with pots of all shapes and sizes which were bursting with multi coloured blooms. Not only multi coloured but she loved to experiment, grafting leaves from different plants and growing them as one, she ended up with some marvellous Hybrids!

African violets are fairly easy to propagate, make sure that you have a clean pot ( average sized) fill it with compost and vermiculite. From the fully grown violets take a few of the healthiest looking leaves, pop the leaves into the pot and then give them a drink of water, making sure not to touch the leaves. Place the pot in the windowsill ,but keep the cuttings away from the sunlight. Keep the compost moist but make sure the leaves always stay dry. If Lady Luck is on your side then you will end up with a few new plants.

Because the African violet could be seen as old fashioned it may well have been sidelined in favour of the more modern pot plants. But I have a soft spot for the simple little plant, it flowers faithfully and always tries its best.
Lidl`s has recently been full of household plants that I wouldn`t give houseroom too! They are all green, weird and wonderful, huge spiky leaves with ferocious looking barbed edges. Give me beauty any day of the week!

The Chimeral African violets are very attractive, a mixture of two coloured flowers and then you find the frilly violets that have a bloom that resembles a rose. There are hundreds of types of the African violet and many many different colours. Maybe the most common colour that we see in the shops is the purple variety.

I have three sitting on my windowsill, African Violets do reasonably well in artificial light. They seem to enjoy sitting on windowsills and often prefer the the nightime temperature.
My pots all sit in little trays, the trays have been filled with small pebbles and water. This lets the violets drink without damaging their roots.

Maybe African violets are becoming a flower of yesteryear but they are highly attractive in bloom and are loyal and faithful plants.
When it comes to looking after them the more that you put into them the more you will get out.
A plant will often cost little more than £2 and it will last for years.

Summary: A faithful plant that likes a window seat.