Ep 189. African Violet Care - Frozen in Time

Mary Stone discusses the challenges of caring for African violets in heated homes. She reflects on the emotional significance of the plants inherited from her mother and humorously recalls her rescue dog Jolee's antics, which led to the loss of her mom’s ‘Frozen in Time’ African Violets.

With one violet remaining in poor health, Mary seeks advice from the African Violet Society of America on reviving it.

She shares her morning routine of morning pages and meditation and how recent events, such as the California wildfires, have affected her. Mary then encourages listeners to find joy in memories frozen in time and nature's resilience.

Thanks for tuning in!

Related Posts and Podcasts you'll enjoy:

Fixing African Violets with Long Stems - Blog Post

Caring for African Violets – Frozen in Time - Blog Post

Ep 188. Dragonflies - Trust the Perfect Unfolding

Benefits of Watering with Rainwater – Blog Post

Ep 04. Sweet Autumn Clematis, Rainwater Rejuvenation

The video link shared by the African Violet Society of America-
How to Re-pot a Long Neck and Also Cure Root Rot

The Artist's Way: 30th Anniversary Edition By Julia Cameron

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I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com.

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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
                                        AskMaryStone.com

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 189. African Violet Care - Frozen in Time
Sat, Jan 11, 2025 11:11AM • 11:50
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
African violets, house plants, morning routine, California fires, meditation, indoor stress, plant care, leaf cuttings, root rot, repotting, memory lane, emotional reflection, nature's lessons, garden dilemmas, storm recovery
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00
Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:26
Hello there. It's Mary Stone, and I am not on the screen porch. I tried to go out there yesterday to record, and it was so windy, and it is again today. And so I am sitting in the library in front of my house plants, most of which live on the screen porch during the growing season. I may go out in the porch in a little bit to see, just to give you a sense of the sound. But anyway, we've been in a freezing tundra these last few days with high winds and temperatures that feel like single digits. It's devastating to hear about the fires burning in California, exasperated by the Santa Ana winds. Wind and Fire are a crushing combination, and I pray for all of you that are in the wave of all that. In fact, in our last episode, dragonflies, trust the perfect unfolding, we spoke about finding beauty and love in the world around you, like in nature, everything unfolds with perfect timing. We do too. Trust in that perfect unfolding muddy waters that churn up after a storm eventually clear, the water will calm down and the fires will subside. But it's hard to imagine the suffering of those who have lost their homes or businesses, and sadly, there have been fatalities as well. Again, many prayers that the calm after the storm comes quickly, and that the new growth and beginnings bring you gifts that may now be hard to imagine. 

Mary Stone  01:51
Today we are going to chat about frozen in time - African violets, that is, one of my treasured house plants that I no longer have. But before that, a bit of reflection. Each morning, I sit in my writing chair, either here in the library or on the screen porch, and it's one of the first things I do, centering myself and what I call morning pages. We can thank Julia Cameron for that term. It was in her book The Artist's Way. The idea is to write things spontaneously as they enter your mind. Sometimes good bits come from it that may be useful in our column or in the book underway. But today, I was off kilter, and I'm not sure why. But I really do think the fires and thinking of my college roommates, dear friends, who lost their homes, and my nephew and his wife and son and two cats had to vacate their home yesterday morning, and I await their status, but I know they are safe. They're staying with friends out of the area. We all have down times or sad times or doubtful times in our lives, and so it's a normal part of being human. 

Mary Stone  02:57
So another morning routine is reading from a daily devotional, followed by meditation, which isn't one of my strengths, I have to say, but I do try to do this. So, I pulled up my chair to face the window, allowing the sun to shine in my closed eyes to quiet my mind. The sunlight dodged in and out of the branches that were blowing in the wind, and it was like glittering through my eyelids. It was really beautiful, and it soothed my soul. That sun that we so take for granted and never asks for anything in return, but it shines every day after every storm. 

Mary Stone  03:33
Anyway, as I sit here with you, I notice that the house plants are already having indoor stress from the low humidity in the house, and I've done my deep watering in the sink, and I await some more snow that I can melt, or rain to give them a nitrogen boost next time I water them. The plant that sticks out is the one African Violet I have remaining, and it wasn't even one that was my mom's. It was given to me as a trio after she passed away, leading me down a memory lane of stories written - the first called frozen in time, African violets, written in December of 2015 when dear old mom was in the nursing home. And it starts like this.

Mary Stone  04:15
 Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, you can't water their little faces. Recalls brother Rick, one of mom's instructions on caring for African violets, as water on their leaves can cause spotting damage. Mom had quite a collection of African Violets when we were kids. As I write, we are visiting her in a nursing home in Virginia. A few months back, my sister asked that I adopt mom's violets collected during the years she lived with her. Dorothy cherished taking mom to the annual African Violet festival nearby. 

Mary Stone  04:48
So on to how to care for African violets. As you would guess, African Violets are native to Africa. They need plenty of indirect sunlight, hence, windows facing west or south. It’s best to use sheer curtains or adjust the blinds to filter the light and rotate the plants a quarter turn weekly so they don't bend towards the light. Keep their soil moist, but never soggy, and water them when the soil on the top feels dry. The water should be at room temperature, as cool water will cause their leaves to curl. Mom always used a charming brass watering can, which I have now, and she filled it and left it next to her babies for the next time she watered so that way it would be at room temperature. 

Mary Stone  05:33
If you opt for grow lights, remember that African Violets need at least eight hours of darkness daily to bloom and beware of leaf bleaching, leaves that are lighter or pinker due to artificial light, the only remedy is natural sunlight. So that is the care and feeding of African violets. Actually, I don't know about feeding, come to think of it.

Mary Stone  05:54
 African Violets like warmth, preferably 70, but 60 to 80 degrees is acceptable. Less than 50 degrees is fatal, though to these tropical beauties. The ideal 50% humidity is hard to maintain in heated homes. By grouping plants, the humidity around them can increase by 15% so mine are all packed in tightly here along the window. It's essential to keep leaves from touching, though, for they need room to grow and air circulation to prevent disease. Containers of water around the plants can help or use a humidifier during the winter. Another way is to elevate the plants on pebbles kept moist but be sure the water level stays clear of the bottom of the pots. Again, they don't like to be wet. All this may sound fussy, but African Violets are adaptable and are popular house plants. So again, I am a little defeated on this, but I'm jumping ahead in the story. 

Mary Stone  06:51
One of mom's treasures is back in bloom. Her dark green leaves have creamy white edges, complimented by cream-colored flowers edged with pale green. Her name is frozen in time, which is fitting. While all flowers fade, our memories are forever frozen in time. Garden dilemmas. AskMaryStone.com.  

Mary Stone  07:14
So, there's a beautiful picture of that lovely plant, but sadly, it did not survive, and I have more to share about that. And as I was visiting the story, I said, Well, wait a minute. I have a link to the African Violet Society of America. Let me check this out. And would you believe they have an Ask the Expert feature. And so what did I do? I wrote a note, and here's what I said.

Mary Stone  07:38
Hi there, African Violet expert. I have only one violet left - a gift from a friend after my dear mom passed. Emma Stone was a member of your society whose collection of African Violets I adopted during her dementia journey. One by one, I lost them. I'm giggling, though, because a few of the fatalities involved my rescue Jolee, now about four and a half. Soon after I adopted her, the only plants she messed with were the leaf cuttings from Mom's frozen in time, which I lovingly rooted in tiny clay pots mom used to start new plants. The first time I discovered Jolee's carnage of throwing the pots to the floor, I thought my five-month-old street dog from Biloxi was scouting for food, and mom's cuttings were within reach. Thankfully, by the way, according to the ASPCA, African Violets are not toxic to dogs or cats, so that was good, and I'm glad she didn't eat them anyway, because all the leaves and the baby roots were intact. So, I repotted the treasures. Two days later, Jolee had her way with them again, and the plants were no longer viable. Let's just say they were strewn all over the floor. I laughed so hard because I was envisioning my mother laughing at the scene, literally with tears of happiness or hilarity coming out of her eyes, and that's what was happening with me. So, it was a funny moment. Although I am sad, I lost the plants. 

Mary Stone  09:05
So, I heard back from the violet expert. Her name is Joyce Stork, and she wrote, Dear Mary, thank you for contacting A VSA. Ask the Expert. Your violet needs to be restarted. What I'm seeing in the photo is fairly typical of how African Violets age occasionally when a neck develops. (So that is the long stem that I showed her in the photos.) It's necessary to do some surgery to rejuvenate the plant and bury the neck. This seven-minute video shows the method I've used successfully thousands of times. It looks terrifying to many growers. If it scares you, propagate several leaf cuttings out of reach of your beloved pup as insurance before you do the transplanting. I think you'll find that your violet recovers quickly. 

Mary Stone  09:49
And then she goes on to say that I should use a smaller pot. She guessed that mine was about five or six inches in diameter, and it is, and she suggested a four-inch shallow pot would be in a better proportion to the size of the roots. Typically, African Violets bloom more freely in pots, which are about a third of the plant diameter. So, there you go. Thank you, Joyce, and I will put a link to this video. It's it's called um, how to repot a long neck and also cure root rot. And it's about radical repotting. So, there you go. 

Mary Stone  10:21
So, thank you for allowing me to have a bit of reflection. I hope it encourages you to do the same. As you go through low times in your heart, try to shift your sadness to the happier moments in your life, those memories frozen in time, such as the gifts around us and the beauty of the world. Again, I sympathize for those enduring the fire, and I hope and pray that people stay safe and can rebuild their lives even stronger than what they are now, that can happen. There's been many stories of such things, but of course, it doesn't make the journey easy to go through, but after every storm, those muddy waters clear. So thank you for coming by and visiting with me in the library. I look forward to returning to the screen porch next week. I'll be bundling up, though it is very cold outside. Maybe I'll be ice skating soon. Have a great day. 

Mary Stone  11:20
You can follow garden dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag. Mary Elaine Stone. Garden dilemmas delights and discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch, and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.