The Lazy Gardener - African Violets

I'm sure it was ultimately inevitible, there are a lot of gardeners in my family, on both sides, but the one person who is responsible for me becoming interested in gardening was my paternal grandmother. Oh, she had beautiful gardens. I can still remember how lush and lovely her front and back yards always were. Full of plants and flowers, all as healthy and vibrant as they knew how to be. People would walk down the street and stop and stare at her garden. Some would come in and ask for slips from this plant or that. Some would be bold and just take them. A thing of beauty, her garden.

Inside she always had fabulous plants, too. There was the philodendron in the corner, huge, seven feet tall. I have no idea how old that plant was. Old. It bloomed once a year, and the flower would be open for one day only. But her African violets were her babies, her darlings. She loved those plants. They sat together on a table in her sun room. I don't remember a time when every one of them wasn't blooming. She turned each plant one-quarter turn every day. As a result, her plants were perfectly shaped. If she had bothered to enter them, they would have won any competition. Such was their perfection.

Grandma was at our house one day for dinner. I must have been in sixth or seventh grade. Mom found that she needed something from the store, so Grandma and I went to buy it. I don't know when African violets started being sold in grocery stores, but they've been there as long as I can remember. We got to the store, and just as we went in there was this display of violets right there staring up at us with their beautiful flowers. This was the day. Grandma decided that I was to get into gardening. She knew how I loved flowers. But gardening? To me it meant pulling weeds or raking leaves for hours, blisters, hot sun. Why would I want to do that? Well, she was more determined than I, and she was buying, so I picked one out. I still remember that little plant. It was just lovely. A simple, five-petaled flower with plain, dark green leaves. But the color. Oh, the color. The top two petals were a dark, dusty mauvey sort of color. And the bottom three petals were a lighter, softer shade of the same glorious tint that still makes my heart sing when I think of it. We brought home this beautiful little plant with the requested groceries, and I was hooked.

I've kept African violets ever since, though I've never had very many violets at any one time. Usually no more than six or seven. I currently have five of them, and three that bloom quite regularly for me. The other two are more of a challenge, but delightful still. And boy, did I get into gardening: blisters, hot sun, and all.

That first little plant is long gone. I cried a little at its passing, that first lovely little plant from Grandma, and I have never seen another quite like it. But it had a good life. It bloomed often. Sometimes for a year without stopping. I probably had it for fifteen years or more. I lost a lot of plants the year it died, but that one, that first plant that Grandma bought for me... I still regret its loss. But I'll remember it always. For that lovely little plant, for a lifetime of gardening pleasures, and for your everlasting love I thank you, Grandma.

An understanding

Over the years there have been times I've been over run with plants, and times that I've hardly had any. But I've always had at least a few African Violets. We understand each other. I've talked with a lot of people who won't even try growing them, think them too finicky. Everyone who grows them has their own way of doing it. Though they'll certainly thrive if you dote on them like Grandma did, I'm here to tell you that they also thrive on a certain amount of neglect. I would know.

One of the most important things is the proper amount of light. I've seen them thrive on window sills (north, east, or filtered exposure, please), and in the middle of huge office buildings where the only light they get is fluorescent. Just don't let them sit too long in direct sun. It burns their leaves. And you may be able to keep them alive behind dark curtains, but they need light to bloom, so bright rooms are best. I keep violets in two places in the house I live in now: in the bathroom on the tub surround right next to the window, and on the kitchen counter near a window. The kitchen window gets direct sun certain times of the day, so the plants are to the side that gets little or no direct sun, but is nice and bright.

I've always read that violets don't like to dry out, that we should keep their soil evenly moist. Now, I know that works, I know people who do it. But remember the theme of this site. I'm lazy. Do you think a lazy gardener like me could keep violets if they absolutely had to be evenly moist all the time? Not on your life. Mine always dry out between waterings. Sometimes they even start to wilt, the poor little dears, but I eventually get around to watering them, and they're fine. They'll perk right back up again. I will also dispell the myth that they only like to be watered from below. I always water them from the top. Always. You can, too. The only thing to be careful of is to keep water off of their leaves. It'll make them spot. So, if you do get water on their leaves, use the edge of a paper towel or something to wick up the spilt water before it has a chance to think about drying, and your violet's leaves will be spot free. Since I tend to go a while between waterings, I also make sure that there's a little water in the saucer when I'm done. This does two things: it raises the humidity while it's there, which the plants like, and it helps keep the soil most for at least an extra day or two.

Big doesn't necessarily mean better.
Sunflowers aren't better than violets.

Edna Ferber