Bitten by the African Violet Bug

During the time I've been living here, I've been experimenting with different plants. I've grown lemon balm, herbs, random plants that in my heart, I knew would fail (like tomato plant, chamomile, and lavender). None really had me excited about them. However, I've recently been hit by an African Violet love. They can grow for years, their flowers are beautiful, they have the weirdest leaves. What's not to enjoy about them?

My first one was purchased at Home Depot, and it was the saddest little thing I'd ever seen. It was pretty sick when I got it, it wasn't blooming, and it had brown spots all over the leaves (apparently from top-watering). But, I got it anyway, I didn't realize it wasn't supposed to look like it did. At $2, I figure I couldn't go wrong with it. Even after I gingerly cared for it, trying to bring it back to life, leaf after leaf fell off, until it finally died. Afterwards, I ended up at Lowes, in search of another African violet. One look at their display, and I was shocked! I had no idea an African violet was supposed to look this awesome.



Oh yes, I found the most adorable pink Optimara variety plant, and it looked fantastic. Compared to my sad Home Depot one, this one was amazing. Sure, it's got a few scratches, and blemished leaves, but it was like pure gold in my eyes. And, it was blooming as well! I brought it home, and it wasn't long before I found myself back there, picking out another one. Now, every time we go to Lowes, I manage to come home with another violet. To make matters worse for my windowsills, when Tyler does something to get him into the doghouse, he knows that by bringing home one of these, all is forgiven (even if he does manage to find the most unattractive blooms).

My birthday is coming up soon, and I may or may not have spent $85 on 11 new violets from an online seller, that should be here middle of next week. Erk.