The Harrington babies are doing great!

This past weekend, I transplanted the last of the "Harrington babies" from the leaves....
WOW... I am so excited!!!
I sent out many Harrington babies last week, to Violet Voice members who are participating in our group's growing project. Of course, I saved several of each variety for myself! :)
This photo is of just a small portion of one tray!

Progress Report on the African violet jar:

In May, I planted a small clay 'strawberry jar' with extra plantlets of Darling BlueTrail.
Well, I must admit to having a terrible time keeping it watered!
At first, it was just like any other potted AV. But sometime in July, I began to notice it needed water every day... of course, it didn't get water every day!
I finally decided to really soak it, pot and soil, then fill the little saucer with water.
That worked fairly well... and by the middle of September, I began to see a bloom or two.
My other 'regularly-potted' Darling Blue Trail plants seem to love to bloom, so I am hoping with cooler house temperatures this fall... and maybe a larger saucer, these plants will soon begin to bloom more.

But this experience has been fun, and if I can find the way to care for it, I will do this again!

Window Plants Are Growing!

This is a fact that we should all keep in mind: African violets DO grow at a fairly fast rate, so don't get discouraged! And we don't have to buy large plants 'just so we can have blooms"! If we would just have a LITTLE patience, the blooms will appear in no time!
PROOF:
This is my bedroom window this morning (mid September):

and here is how it looked six weeks ago (late July):

There has been many blooms in the window before today, but I just didn't take time to take a photo!
~~~ So this 'photo diary' of this window has taught me a lesson I don't want to forget: our plants will bloom, so don't get in a hurry. Just go about your life, and one morning they will greet you with lots of blooms! ~~~

Lots of Babies... Harrington ones too!

August has been busy on the ranch... and on the plant shelves!
Every two weeks, more babies need transplanting from the mama leaves.
July and August saw the number of trays on my plant stands DOUBLE!
Here is one shelf of young starters:

For anyone interested in the Harrington varieties: they are doing fine and I have transplanted babies from just over half of the leaves... and reset some of the leaves, of course!

Still working on the outside...

(To view all posts of the NEW YARD WORK , click THIS LINK, so you get to a list of only the posts about the yard, which begins with this post, and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom left of this post!  You will begin with the first post and work forward to the most recent yard and garden post.)

The inside decorating details have been put on hold until the winter brings a little break in the barn chores.... but we are still working at the outside grading and finishing.

John showed me how to put the tractor into forward and reverse gears... how to raise and lower the bucket... and turned me loose around our new house! Yikes!!

I hauled 32 bucketloads of dirt around our house.. into certain areas on the south and west sides. I decided to concentrate on two sides of the house this summer, and will work on the other two next summer.

I don't need any more dirt, but I do need another back and set of hands! It is all 'hand' work from now on!

But I am ready to begin on the step, patio, and walk to the driveway!!!! Yippee!!

My, how they have changed with TIME!

We all know how SLOWLY our violets seem to grow! It seems like I am always waiting for a new plant to bloom, and it seems to take YEARS!!!
In reality, African violets grow at a reliable pace; and before we know it, there are many blooms to give color to our windowsills!
Case In Point:
In March, I found time to repot my few tiny violet babies, and ordered a few leaves to root.
Here is a photo of my entire collection of African violets in May 2007:

One month later, in June 2007, they were blooming and beautiful:

And here is what my violet stands look like in July:
(The plants from the window, plus a few new ones, and babies transplanted from the leaves rooted in March! )

So, they aren't as slow growing as we think!
It is simply that WE are impatient! :)

The cart in the window is again filled with new plants in isolation:

I also have a shelf of rooting leaves... 181 leaves!!!

We can go from having NO VIOLETS to having TOO MANY VIOLETS much quicker than we can imagine!!!!! WARNING!