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African Violets, A Life Long Love
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 | | Rose Behnke:1962 at Sylvan Lake in South Dakota |
On February 28th my grandmother, Rose Behnke, would have been 105 years old. While I know she has been gone for many years, it seems like yesterday that the whole family was sitting around the dining room celebrating one of her birthdays with her favorite meal, Chinese Take Out! Seriously--while she was a great cook, on her birthday we had take out! I thought I would share with everyone one of the plants that she loved, African Violets. I received an email a few weeks ago with this photo
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(218) 05/10/1959 (R. Behnke/H. Cox)
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attached from Drew Norris, a member of the Gesneriad Society. He wanted to know if I could verify if this was one of Rose Behnke's violets. A quick email to my mother, Sonja Behnke Festerling confirmed what I was pretty sure of.. Yes this is Fantasy Girl. All the way from Colorado. Rose Behnke started a life-long love of African Violets back when my mother was a young girl in the 1940's. She started cross-pollinating plants, kept records and developed some of the most popular varieties such as 'Behnke Boy', 'My Maryland', 'All Aglow', 'Washington Star', 'Sonja' and 'Fantasy'. 'Fantasy' was one of the first speckled varieties, a pale single lavender with dark speckles on the petals. My mother wrote an article years ago about Behnke's early years growing and selling violets. By the time I came around, violets were a big part of Behnke's history. I have written about how each First Lady would receive special hand-picked violets from my grandmother, welcoming her to the White House. What I really remember is "The Violet House." Where the houseplant house at Beltsville is now located, we had  benches and benches of beautiful African Violets that we grew from cuttings. As a little girl one of the first jobs I had was cleaning them-- picking each one up, and pinching off any dead blooms and leaves. Sometimes good leaves broke and fell under the bench, landing on the soil. Weeks later, little violets would be growing under the benches. My Uncle Albert reminded me of the African Violet Soil that we used to sell. My grandparents came up with a special formula and we would bag it in clear bags for folks to use. We also had an area in the front of this greenhouse that was DISPLAY ONLY. We had a selection of large beautiful violets in clay pots and to this day I still hear people talking about them. By the way, my grandmother also named a violet after me, 'Stephy' a light pink violet that was unfortunately a poor performer and was discontinued. But how special I felt having that violet. It was not till I was married that I got another plant named after me--a Daylily--but that is a story for another time. Check out Rose Behnke's Do's & Don'ts On Care of African Violets
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Just one of the many recipes you can make with your fresh figs!
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Figs are a beautiful, tasty gift of Summer and Autumn: they are the perfect ingredient both for desserts and for salty dishes. Here is a recipe I found from Swide that is quick and easy.
Ingredients:
8 ripe yellow or black figs
a bunch of arugula
peeled walnuts
crumbled blue cheese
olive oil
lemon (1/2 lemon juice)
pinch of salt
Rinse the arugula. Clean the figs (peeling them or not, as you like). Wisk the olive oil with the lemon and the salt creating a dressing for your salad and pour it over it. Toss in walnuts and blue cheese and toss again. Serve with a dry white wine like Pinot Grigio. Serves 4.
Besides Fig Trees, we also have a large selection of the following for your orchard: Apple, Cherry, Pear, Plum, Persimmon, Peach, Apricot, Nectarine, Pomegranate, Almond, Pecan, Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry and Grapes.
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Garden Club Member Special: Hellebores 25% OFF
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Not a member? No problem, sign up for the Club FREE online or at our garden centers.
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 Enjoy your late winter/early spring garden walks, as the hellebores peek out in bud and bloom. Just plant them under tall shade trees in an area with good drainage, once the night temperatures are once again above freezing. Several varieties available.
Must be a Behnke Garden Club member to get this special price. To join, just Sign Up Here! It's FREE!
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Beautiful Blooms At Behnke's
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Your Edible Garden ~ A NEW Monthly Series at Behnke's!
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Planting Seeds for Summer Crops & March Garden Prep
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 Join Carol Allen and find out what you should be doing in the garden this month and then get ready for a FREE hands-on activity as you plant a small salad pot to take home.
March Schedule
Beltsville
Session 1: March 1, 2014 10am to 12noon
Session 2: March 1, 2014 1pm to 3pm
Session 3: March 2, 2014 10am to 12noon
Session 4: March 2, 2014 1pm to 3pm
All sessions are FREE and cover the same content.
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"Lawn and Garden: Get It Done Now" Tips At 1pm with Orion Taylor.
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Saturday March 9th "Lawn and Garden: Get it Done Now" Tips, at 1pm; with Orion Taylor.
Get ahead of the curve by feeding and seeding your Lawn now. We can offer individualized programs to meet any condition. Also discussing how to assess winter-damaged plants, and solutions to renew your landscape.
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NCAC Show & Sale, "Gesneriads Go to the Movies."
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The Gesneriad Show and Sale is open to the public on Saturday March 8 from 1-5pm,
and on Sunday March 9 from 9am-4pm Hosted by Behnke Nurseries at Beltsville.
This special show, sale and series of lectures is presented by The National Capital Area Chapter of the Gesneriad Society.
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 Lectures (free of charge) are scheduled as follows:
"Sinningia in Brazil" - Dave Zaitlin 2 p.m. on Saturday
"What is a Gesneriad?" - Jim Roberts 10 a.m. on Sunday
"Gesneriad Propagation" - Brian Connor 1 p.m. on Sunday
What are Gesneriads you ask? The most well known species are African Violets and Florist Gloxinia that have been a garden center mainstay for decades, but their relatives span the world with representatives for nearly every gardening style (houseplant, terrarium, greenhouse, alpine, and even succulent!). They range in size from large shrubs and vigorous vines, to some of the smallest blooming plants in the world. If you enjoy growing plants, there is a Gesneriad for you! We are more than happy to help you find it.
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Behnke's Quick Buttons
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Just click on the blue button for a direct link
 March's Gardening To-Do List
 Fig Trees 25% Off
Garden Club Special: 25% Off Hellebores
The "Green Matter" of Climate Change at Brookside
by Susan Harris, Behnke's Garden Blogger
 Taking appointments for Spring planting and yard clean up.
 SAVE THE DATE:
Sat. March 8 & 9 ~ NCAC Show & Sale, "Gesneriads Go to the Movies."
Sat. March 22, & Sun. March 23~ Spring Open House
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Behnke Nurseries
Beltsville: 301-937-1100
Potomac: 301-983-9200
Florist: 301-983-4400
Email: behnkes@behnkes.net
Web Site: www.behnkes.com
Beltsville & Potomac
Sunday ~ Friday ~ 9 to 6
Saturday ~ 8 to 6 Open Early
Note: The Behnke Florist is closed on Sunday
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