A few years ago, Miss Betty, a dear little lady from our church, visited my home. She noticed that I had several houseplants in the living room but not one violet - her special love. She decided that I needed one and took it upon herself to deliver this lovely violet to me one evening. Besides delivering the plant, she also gave me several tips in caring for it - for which I was thankful as I had tried to grow violets before and failed. My violet has been growing well for a year or so now with Miss Betty's tips:
* Place violets in a southeast window for morning sun exposure - they don't like a lot of hot, direct sunshine nor too much shade.
* Miss Betty's secret violet food: weak tea. Mix up a batch of weakened tea every 2 to 3 weeks, pour it in a shallow bowl (about an inch worth) and set the pot in it to absorb from the bottom. Violets DO NOT like their leaves to get wet in the least. I lean towards watering (or rather, teaing!) every 3 weeks - violets much prefer dryness to wetness. Mark it on your calendar to remember. You won't need any extra violet food - whatever's in the tea is enough food and drink for the violet.
* Violets will periodically take a break from blooming. When the blooms are spent, snip them off and don't worry - they'll be back shortly!
Happy blooming . . .
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