The Curiosities of the Colours

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​African violets
Red - White - Blue

Dyn-o-mite

Snuggles Innocence

    Little Prince

The Red
Coral red is one of the most recessive colours in African violets. Before 1980 most violets described as "red" were actually magenta (a deep purplish red.) 
A truer red appeared when hybrids such as ‘Dyn-o-mite’ and ‘Sedona’ came along (seen in photos above). Even today though, violets with coral red genes are still fairly burgundy coloured. If you grow with fluorescent "grow lights" (which have a pinkish colour, we call them gro-lux) you may find that your red violets will appear a much brighter red.

The White
Not all white violets are genetically white. Some bloom white as a result of chemistry within the plant that keeps the genetic colour from developing as the bud matures. This chemistry is affected by the growing room temperature. 'Snuggles Innocence’ (see above) is one example of a variety which has mostly white flowers in some seasons but will blush more pink in summer months.

The Blue
Violets are blue.... You would think so. It's true that some violets in the Viola family are bright blue, but that's because viola flowers have a different blue pigment than African violets (which are in the Gesneriad family and unrelated.) The African violet's pigment produces a violet-blue appearance, and to many eyes it looks a bit purplish as it does here with 'Little Prince' (see above). Buyers beware of royal blue African violet photos... purple is a difficult colour to capture in photography and the result may be misleading.

Joy Stork African Violet Society of America