Limiting the Collection

My interest in African Violets goes back to my youth, so I am not a newcomer to this hobby.  It was just prior to the pandemic that my second plant rack was acquired, and my hobby was propelled to another level. That same week I purchased various Gesneriad seeds from a local grower and was taken with the joy of seeing the seedlings sprout, grow and eventually bloom.  I am still working with some of those original seedlings with the expectation that soon I may register them with AVSA. 

Once the pandemic hit, we were all house bound.  Although I did continue to go in to work nights at Canada Post, I had plenty spare time on my hands.  It was during this time that the AV fever took hold and my two racks expanded into five. There was always a variety I needed to have, seed from new cross to test and then I discovered the rest of the Gesneriad family and could not resist.  It did not take long for my fun and enjoyment to turn into ‘work’ or merely an additional burden that took all my spare time.  The words of Annie Rieck from “All About African Violets”  https://allaboutafricanviolets.com/ came to haunt me, with every episode she always warns her You-Tube followers to limit your collection.  I did not heed her wisdom and fell into that trap where an enjoyable hobby became a burden.

Today I have reduced my collection to a more manageable size and discovered the enjoyment factor has increased substantially.  As a result, my focus changed from hoarding as many varieties as possible to reducing the numbers and growing them as well as possible.  So, my moto changed from quantity to quality.  The goal now is to grow show quality plants, try my hand at hybridizing and most of all enjoy the experience.