I had a great-aunt on my dad's side of the family who loved African Violets. When you entered her house from the back you walked into a sun porch. She had lined the windows in it with shelves and on those shelves she had African Violet upon African Violet lined up. I can remember as a little girl loving to go there and thinking it the loveliest place of all because of the African Violets.
About twenty years ago or so one of my cousins who lives in the same county that we had moved to just a couple of years before had a huge collection of African Violets. When I would comment on how pretty one was she would ask, "Would you like me to start you one of those?" Of course I said yes. I had a good sized collection after a year or two and enjoyed their beauty all year round...especially in the winter.
My mother passed away in October of 2017 and that was a hard autumn for me. I found it hard to care for my violets. When one of them died due to my neglect, I knew that I needed to find a home for them. I asked a dear friend of mine if she would be interested in having them and she agreed, telling me that if I ever wanted to have them back that she would be happy to give them back to me. I did come to the point where I was ready to take back on the responsibility of caring for them. She had been propagating them because she really enjoyed them too. She also started buying some from The Violet Barn.
Time moved on, as it has a way of doing, and now I have thirteen African Violets. Some are from the original plants that I had given my friend. Others are ones that she graciously shared with me when she moved to another state late this summer.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:8
Legacy Standard Bible
They are lovely. I haven't seen them produce that magenta color before. What kind is that?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandi. I believe that one is Cherries and Cream. I don't know if you can see it by enlarging the picture, but the ruffled outer edge is white. I also had one that was solid magenta and it's name was E.K.Kordian. Both were among the originals that my cousin gave me. She had ordered them from The Violet Barn.
DeleteI wish I had a green thumb but alas, I do not. I love your african violets so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I really enjoy caring for them. I like their little smiling faces.
DeleteSo pretty and glad that they thrive under your care. My sister has several. Sorry to hear of the hard time you had when your dear mom passed away.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen. My mom passed away just three days after my birthday and while I was thankful she was no longer suffering, I missed her a lot. I'm so thankful that she knew the Lord. That's where my comfort lays.
DeleteThank you, Karen. They bring me a lot of joy for minimum care.
ReplyDeleteI think your African Violets are lovely. I have no luck at all keeping them healthy and above all getting them to bloom. I make sure they have bright light but no direct sun but they don't thrive. Oh well, I have better luck with other plants ❤
ReplyDeleteGranny M
Thank you so much. I certainly enjoy them. I think the lighting on the kitchen window must be just right. I just water them once a week and give them plant food and they seem happy enough. You definitely have a green thumb with everything else that you care for.
DeleteThey are beautiful and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I certainly enjoy caring for them.
DeleteLovely African violets! When I moved into my house in Florida years ago, they had an air conditioner window unit embedded in the wall and the landlord replaced it with a window. I don't know what it was about that window, but I had two African violets that thrived there. A surprise to me because plants fear me! And then after a year or so, they got sick and died. I was heart broken.
ReplyDeleteAww..I am sorry that they died. When you take care of plants like that, it's sad when they die.
DeleteVery pretty! I had a few African violets in early married days. They'd leaf out but not flower.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I enjoy caring for them. I'm sorry that yours didn't flower when you had them before.
DeleteLovely flowers. I’m curious what a shelf for a window is? ~ Lauren
ReplyDeleteIt's a shelf made of plexi glass that just sits on the window sill. It gives me double the amount of shelving space and gives me more room for plants.
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