#(or I try to. in practice I can't find good wick 3“ pots so the semi-minis get 3.5”)

[prince-liest]

Got some new violets in the mail! Three miniatures/semi-miniatures that I ordered, and one surprise freebie. Literally all four were in bud or in bloom when I opened the box, which was absolutely delightful.

Hunter's White Tail Fawn. I love the sheer sparkle of the flowers, and how cheerfully green the leaves are. I have a number of violets with darker leaves so this is a nice change. Also, they're nice and pointed! This is a miniature, so it's going to spend its whole life in a tiny little 2 inch pot, which is just so cool to me.

Rob's Cotton Ball, a semi-miniature. Mine on the left (in bud), site photo on the right. I don't have any pure white violets yet, and I'm obsessed with the sheer volume/ruffle of the triple blooms. Cannot WAIT to see this one open up!

Golden Eye, another semi-miniature. Mine on the left (in bud), site photo on the right. Fully yellow African Violets don't really exist, but this is about as close to it as they get! Plus really cool variegated foliage that is way prettier than I expected. A lot of the time they don't open as yellow as the photo on the right, so we shall see! Either way it's a beautiful and interesting plant.

Here's an interesting quote on the topic of yellow violets from u/fuzzyfuzzyclickclack on reddit: "[...]because petals are specialized anthers, current yellow hybrids have been distorted to retain some of their yellow anther color, but it's a tradeoff between retaining the yellow of the anther and not actually having a flower petal which makes having a fully butter-yellow petaled violet currently implausible. There have been recent genetic engineering experiments focused on introducing yellow producing genes into violets, but when if ever these plants will come into the hands of hybridizers (and subsequently the general market) remains an open question." [source]

And the surprise freebie violet! They were nice enough to notice that I ordered exclusively minis and semi-minis and sent me another miniature. The label says this is Rob's Pogo Stick (semi-mini) but I'm going to be totally honest, it looks nothing like the listing for that plant, haha. I'll have to wait until more flowers open, but I'm fairly convinced that this is a mislabeled Jersey Jackpot (mini). Maybe I'm wrong! We shall see... I'll repot it as if it's a Jersey Jackpot for now, though.