Growing a violet collection

So today it's a "Rainy Day in Georgia", real hard constant rain, that is. Not that off and on "isolated" or "scattered" wetness that falls at will throughout the latter days of west central Georgia's typical summer. Today it's thunder, loud rain, and big gusts of wet rain all day long. This means it's an opportune time to do some indoor gardening. My violets need attention!

I generally have about 50 or 60 violets growing, along the sun room window sill, in portable wrought iron floor trays under tall windows, on some end tables, and even in a plant stand that can hold 6 pots. It's a beautiful sight that gives so much pleasure with a minimum amount of effort and expense. I know it's a lot but I can't help it!

Here's what you need: pots, plants, soil, and fertilizer. TaDa.

I use self-watering pots, both commercial or home made. The store bought self-watering pots are terrific, and prices range from $6.00 to $30.00 for the extra specials. However, I always seem to find a bargain, as Mike did last week at Walmart. He stumbled onto a "let's get rid of these" supply for $1.50 each for medium sized pots and came home with 15 new pots. Joy and security! In this arrangement, a porous pot, which holds the violet, sits snugly inside a larger pot that holds the water. The water leaches into the smaller pot, thereby probiding a continuous supply of water to a potted violet.

I have 3 sizes: small, medium, and large. The small pots are for the tender violet starters I've rooted on a window sill. The medium sized pots are for any flowering violets I buy at the store, which I often do when I find a net color or leaf texture that I want to add to my supply. The large pots house the older violets that have outgrown a medium pot, generally by producing another plant or when the core begins to grow noticeably tall.

You can also make your own self-watering pots. For example, in the bottom of a terra cotta pot, plug the hole with spackle and let it dry. Place this pot into a deep plant liner or any similar dish, which will be filled with water. Because the fit isn't snug like the commercial self-watering pots, evaporation will necessitate more frequent watering--but it's very effective when you simply need more pots or need a variet of sized pots at reasonable prices. It's a cheap way to get by!

Using the same concept--any pot that can easily absorb water sitting in a container of water--turpentine pots work. These have the advantage of being very deep, and this, I think, is an important factor in producing some gorgeous bloomers.

Today I'm organizing and cleaning my pots in preparation for a big planting effort in a day or so. I'll wash the old, used pots using a steel brush and soapy water to get them free of dirt specs. I'm going to check my supply of African Violet soil and fertilizer, available at any gardening supply store.

More next time!

How I got my name!

Plant Lady is a descriptive tag for me, although admitedly it is quite dull and unimaginative. Many moons ago, when the children were still in elementary school, our refrigerator called it quits. Since we needed a replacement immediately, the only selection criteria was who could deliver it the soonest. Capacity, features, and color were of no concern. After shopping several stores, Sears won, and here's how it happened.

At that time, and maybe it's still the modus operandi, Sears delivered to specific areas of the city on specific days--only. How organized is that! So, in describing to the salesman (in this case, a man in sales) where I lived, and giving several landmarks to narrow down the location, his face lit up and he said, "You must live near Plant Lady. You know, the house with all the plants on the window sills and hanging in every window."

My response to him, after reviewing the conversation in my mind and sorting through all the houses in the area to see if it could be anyone by me, I replied, "I'm Plant Lady." I learned also that Plant Lady's home was often used as a descriptor by more that just the Sears guy.

Two factors dictate the type of gardening we do. First, since we live in the Deep South, the official home of extreme heat, humidity, and red clay in west central Georgia. All of our gardens contain soil we've imported, including mushroom complex from Florida; peanut shells; bags of peat, top soil, manuer, and compost; and, with the exception of the shrubs around the house, are raised beds.

Additionally, our 17 acres are home to a family of deer. As development has encroached on our lives, the deer have perhaps been more impacted by urban sprawl than we. Our land is all they have left, so we provide a generous supply of deer corn routinely and nutrients through a mineral lick, protein lick, and sulphur block. (BTW, the 3 fawn we estimate to be about 1 month old now are repidly losing their spots. They're growing up!) Our deer also eat most everything that blooms--with the exception of vinca, dianthus, and lantana. Put a geranium in their path--or a pansy, Texas petunia, or any petinia--and it's called deer candy.

So, because of our soil and the deer, our main gardening efforts are done in containers. This is perhaps the most difficult kind of gardening because of its limited environment--the pot it's in is all it has! More on this tomorrow. Nevertheless, container gardening offers complete portability of color, shape, scent, and beauty. Just transport an outrageously blooming basket of mounding purple oregano and Indian pipe plants to the front entrance and you've got instant beauty.