Gesnariads, Gesnariads, Now that's What I'm Talkin' About!

We went to see an entire room of gesnariads on Saturday.  No, not dinosaurs, not petrified old people, not astronomical phenomena, no, we saw a room full of African violets.  Now all  African violets are gesnariads, but not all gesnariads are African violets.  They are actually African in origin growing originally in subtropical Tanzania and Kenya.  The 'wild' varieties of this plant are called vintage.  They are called 'violets' because that's what the European classifier thought they looked like.

Vintage African violet

The reason we went to this show is because of my grandmother.  She grew African violets on her kitchen sill over the sink, and they were always in bloom.  It turns out she was a master grower to be able to keep her plants continuously in bloom.

Even though we went to this show and sale on a lark, these plants are serious business.  According to AVSA (African Violet Society of America), founded in 1946, AV's are the most frequently grown houseplants.  This is a society with muscle.  I bought a couple of 'old' African Violet Magazines, a glossy magazine published six times a year by the national organization, to just glean some factoids for this blog.  I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I discovered in 2010 they had net assets of $168,000!  These people give scholarships and research grants to students studying plants.

What was really fun about this outing was getting to talk to people who have real passion for their hobby.  Meet Janice.

She's a 'snowbird' who belongs to the society here as well as 'at home' in Denver.  Her knowledge was encyclopedic.  She spent more than an hour describing to me the differences between 'fantasy' (speckled flowers), and 'fancy' (two/three toned flowers.  What a gesnariad is and how they can be totally different from African violets even though all of the AV's are gesnariads. 

My favorite gesnariad of the show - Coral Flame

I learned there are so many hybrids, some of which concentrate on the leaves and others on the flowers.  Some of the species of SaintPaulius (AV's) are even endangered due to their natural habitat being chewed up by humans.  The national society has to officially recognize all hybids - kind of like how the American Kennel Club has to recognize new dog breeds.

As with all true plant people, Janice insisted talking to one's African violets is the true way to make them happy.  She must be talking all day long since she personally owns dozens of plants.  And, it turns out my Grandmother's location over the sink is a prime place to grow these plants.  That's an especially valuable location here in the desert - since the moisture from water running frequently in the sink helps keep them closer to the humidity they like.  To water these plants correctly in this climate you need 'wicks' which are lengths of yarn which extend out of the bottom of the potted plant which sits ABOVE THE WATER.  The yarn strands 'wick' the water into the plant roots which has thirsty little nodules.  (To give credit where due:  Drake ascertained this nugget of information from an woman who is extremely excited to going to the national convention show and sale in Buffalo, New York.)

We were the only non enthusiasts at the show.  We went late in the afternoon, thus missing the buying rush of the morning.  It's easy to make fun of people with an all consuming hobby, but the sheer joy these people had was definitely worth the time we spent with them.  As always I took pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yw6dQf2Yko5BnKds2