That's funny because none of the orchid people I know have AV myself included. lol

I used to grow AVs and I still love them.

They are amazing in that they can stay in bloom year around if conditions are met. They stay relatively small which is great plus for many indoor growers and greenhouse growers alike. They are easily propagated via leaf cutting.
There are so many different varieties to choose from.
Beauty is such a subjective thing. You find them boring but I find them very pretty, especially the dark violet or deep blue with white edges. I also like light blue flowers on very dark green leaves.

The reason I do not have them anymore is simply that I'd rather have more orchids than AV.
Also, AV often comes with thrips on the flowers. I guess one can simply pinch off all the flowers and wait for the second blooming to get rid of these bugs easily. but I just couldn't do that. also thrips once damaged some of my orchid flowers badly, so I just don't want that ever happen to me again.

I have two miniature AVs. I grow them because I like the variegated foliage on them and on one, I have yet to see the flowers, so I'm curious what they look like. They are supposed to be pink with a green halo. Should be neat to see! I haven't seen any thrips on these, but I got them at a local nursery, not a big box store. I may go back for more just because they had unusual AVs. The grocery store kind don't thrill me anymore.

There are some very nice AV's out there. I rarely ever see them for sale around here and they are never the mini or fancy ones. I think if I saw a mini AV, I would probably buy it. :)

I also grow AVs along with my orchids. I have some doubles and some spotted. They flower after only a couple of weeks off, so they are in flower most of the time. Not fussy to grow, windowsill, occasional fert, and water when nearly dry. very rewarding

Check out the Violet Barn. You can mail order some really nice miniature AVs from them. I haven't made an order yet, but they have some nice variegated minis. Very showy. :)

Haha! Sounds like the kind of plant I would either instantly kill and/or fail to get it to flower. If a plant comes with an "it's easy" label, I usually kill them. :rofl:

:hello Try violetbarn.com. I now get mine from them and their varieties are amazing!

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I just bought an African Violet. Saw the perfect one and brought it home. Now I have to relearn how to grow them again. It has been about twenty years since I last grew them. :)

So I have to chime in that I too like my AV for filling in to provide blooms when the rest of my orchids are out of bloom. However, I have to say that I am more of a fan of the Streptocarpus genus- to me they have a little more appeal that can be somewhat orchid-like and the one I have has been in bloom non-stop for the past 3 months since the first bloom it put up (a tiny cutting-propagated plant at that point).
I also like that Streptocarpus seem to be a little less fussy than AV's in terms of watering and temperatures, etc.